A Demon's Journey
by firiette
Summary: Rin's life with Sesshomaru has been dangerous but relatively peaceful over the past eight years. That is, until Rin runs away, choosing to live with Kagome and Inuyasha. Now a new demon has attacked their village, searching for Rin...
1. Chapter 1: Love

Hey there everyone! My first fic. Well, my first fic on this site. I've written a few but never published them.

So.

So I'm a little nervous.

Please don't be too harsh, okay? Promise? Yes? Okay. Good. This will be a multi-chapter fic, so bear with me while I write it.

I don't own anything. Sadly.

Now, please enjoy!

* * *

Chapter One

Love

Jaken had noticed Rin occasionally stopped using "Lord" while referring to Sesshomaru. This was not as unusual as he would have thought, since she had used it off and on since she had turned thirteen. Eight years had passed since they first met her and Rin had left childhood behind. She was not what humans considered to be beautiful. She was a pound or two too thin, too small, and even eight years later, her eyes were too large for her face. She took to wearing kimonos she could easily work in and she still shied away from shoes, insisting that they got in her way, but wore them despite her discomfort in order to keep away from Jaken's nagging.

Rin sat, leaning, against A-Un's side as she sewed one of Jaken's robes he had torn almost in two on a thorn bush. She hummed a tune she had heard years ago, knowing full well how it bothered those around her, but continued to do so because the two-headed dragon liked it.

"Rin!" Jaken snapped, looking lost in his least favourite robe, which he tugged on mercilessly. "Stop that noise and concentrate!"

"Sorry, Jaken."

She had stopped calling him "Master." Unlike with Sesshomaru, whom she somehow forgot to call "Lord" once or twice, Rin called Jaken by his title only when she could tell he was upset or when she wished to calm his ire at something unfitting she had done.

Jaken was quiet in his own thoughts, Rin noticed. A-Un nudged her with one of its muzzles and, with a smile, she started to hum to it again. The dragon let out a soft cat-like purr and laid both of its heads, contently, on the grass.

"What's that disgusting song about, anyway?"

Rin could not help but giggle a little at the absurdity - Jaken _never_ asked her questions. She choked it down quickly, though, when she saw his frustrated expression. Placing her sewing aside, she took a breath and explained that it was a rather old folksong the villagers in her town had sung while they went about their work. It was a story, of sorts, of two trees planted side by side on the edge of a forest. They had developed a love for each other, but were inevitably separated after they were consumed in a fire.

The song had always made her sad since the first time she had heard the people from her village singing it. It was an obscure folksong that she had only heard performed once in passing and, after that, never again. In fact, the song was so old that it was known by a handful of villages in the entire country. It was perhaps one of the only memories Rin still had of her life before she met Sesshomaru.

After she had finished telling him, Jaken folded his arms indignantly. "Trees?" he scoffed. "Feel love? What a ridiculous story. Trees don't love."

"People say the same about demons," she reminded him softly.

"Demons don't love either," he said, flabbergasted that she would think of such a thing.

Rin's eyes widened and she jumped forward, her face inches from the frog demon's. "That can't be true, Jaken! What about Lord Sesshomaru's father? And Inuyasha?"

"Bite your tongue, silly girl! Don't speak of that half-demon in Lord Sesshomaru's presence!"

Sesshomaru was a grim, white-clad statue amid the bending stocks in the field, staring at something, though, not for lack of trying, Rin could not figure out what. Only an irritated twitch of his hand, the flick of his index finger, on Tenseiga told that he had heard her. He would not say he had heard - he would not say the mention of his father and brother had bothered him.

She fell back, again picking up the cloth she was sewing. After a thoughtful moment of staring at her uneven stitches, the girl said quietly, "But, Jaken, surely they love."

"Humph. Silly human sentiment." He waved his hand and the conversation was dismissed.

Rin stayed where she was, sewing and humming, until the sun had begun to fall from its place in the noon sky. With her mind whirling, she tried her best to concentrate as Jaken had told her. She had never been skilled with the needle and, being raised by two male demons, she had not had the chance to improve. Finally, she was finished and she stood, her limbs aching, and dropped the robe in Jaken's lap.

She glanced around, noticing that in the long hour she had spent sewing, he had not moved. Rin walked slowly out to where the demon stood, her fingers brushing absent-mindedly over the wildly growing weeds, and stopped hesitantly a few feet away from him. She stared at his back, praying for him to turn, however, when he remained still, she sighed.

"Lord Sesshomaru? I saw some herbs at the other side of the forest." When he did not answer, she whispered, "A-Un likes them."

"There is a human village nearby."

He would come no closer to warning her, no closer to showing his concern for her safety, but Rin knew it was there. The knowledge made the side of her heart tug. "Yes, Lord Sesshomaru. I'll be careful."

With a grateful smile and her tattered basket on her arm, Rin sped off into the nearby forest. Only Jaken saw Sesshomaru turn then. Only Jaken saw the intensity in which his master watched her go, staring long after she had faded into the trees, and he clutched his staff nervously to his chest.

* * *

Rin passed one last bush before she caught a glimpse of a small village nestled in the middle of fields of sprouting grains. A few houses dotted the flat countryside behind the village, but was otherwise covered in a blanket of trees and bushes. There was a soft murmur of activity, a sound that could only be when there were humans nearby: laughter. It was pleasant to stand in a noisy place without Jaken. He took delight in bossing and directing, enjoyed nagging, and revelled in controlling others. Rin usually accepted his criticism with her gentle grace, but today she was tired. He drained her much like no one else had.

So she stood and relished the sounds of the village children, most likely all under nine years of age, playing in the field for a few minutes, waiting for their parents' work to be done, before they would start on their many ways home. The rain had let up completely, allowing some sunlight to peek through the fading clouds.

The laughter and play did not last long, for it was interrupted by a soft crying that slowly escalated into a wailing that drew Rin near it. The warnings of Sesshomaru rang dully in her head, making her wary of her decision, but the crying led her forward with concern. A little girl stood at the base of a tall oak tree, her chubby fists pressing into her eyes. Her face was growing redder with each passing moment, the on-looking children watching nervously as they tried to think of what to do.

Rin dropped to the girl's level, gently pulling her fists away from her so that she would look at Rin. She did, startled out of crying for a moment. Rin took that chance to speak to her.

"Hello there," she said in her happiest voice, though she was anxious from being so close to another of her kind after so long. "Are you all right?"

"I was playin' with the doll that Mama bought for me n' Haruko n' Jaru took it away from me n' started runnin' around with it n' then threw it as hard as they could n' it went up in that big ol' tree!" She had started to hiccup by this point, making her words harder still to understand. "If – hic – I d – don get th' doll back Mama's – hic – gonna punish me good 'cause it – hic – was 'spensive . . ."

So her doll was stuck up in a tree. Rin could see it if she squinted, quite a bit up probably one of the tallest oak trees she had ever seen. The girl's toy must have been very special to her judging by the way she was acting. For a moment, Rin gazed over to the child. Her little grey kimono was dirty and she had no shoes to speak of, so it was painfully clear that her family would not be able to afford another doll for a long while, if ever.

Rin sighed, knowing what she had to do and feeling very hesitant at the idea. She looked back down at the girl.

"You know what?" she asked, pulling out the string she had used to tie her hair back. "This is made of magic. It'll get your doll down."

It was a lie, and Jaken had told her seriously that she should never lie, that it was unbecoming of a lady, and only to do so if Lord Sesshomaru commanded it. However, Sesshomaru was not around to command it and this little girl reminded Rin of herself when she had been poor, frightened, and alone.

The girl stuck her bottom lip out. "There ain't no such thing as magic."

Rin was dumbfounded. She had grown up surrounded by magic. How could a child live around demons, fear demons, and not believe that the very thing they were apart of existed?

"W-well," she stumbled, "there is not magic every day, but this string is an amulet. It will give you magic just for today."

"Really?" She eyed Rin doubtfully, yet there was a touch of wanting to believe in her stubborn gaze.

"Yes," Rin said as confidently as she could while lying. "But you have to close your eyes and wish very hard or else the magic won't work."

The girl gave Rin a look like she suspected she was being tricked, but she closed her eyes all the same. Her fingers clenched hard around the string and her mouth moved, silently forming her wish. All of the children had left for home by now, fascinated by the strange woman with a basket of herbs, but not one was willing to risk their lives on the possibility of her being a kind demoness who would spare children.

Rin put her basket down onto the grass. She removed her shoes, deciding that it would be less difficult to climb without them, and, placing her hand on the first branch, pulled herself up to begin. Even without her shoes, the ascent was much harder than it had been in her memories of tree-climbing as a child. Rin supposed she was not as agile as she had been back then, and not nearly as light. She had been gaining weight recently, her kimonos noticeably fitting tighter around her middle, causing increased frustration as she tried to climb.

The folds of her clothes also hindered more than helped, flying in her face when there was wind, tangling around her legs to almost send her spiralling downward, and catching in branches. She was sweating practically everywhere, another thing Jaken had told was unladylike. Her hands and feet were full of wooden splinters and her back ached with the effort of reaching, pushing, and pulling herself up the tree. The hair that had taken her ten minutes to braid properly that morning was flying everywhere in wild tufts, falling prey to sap, leaves, and clinging sticks. The one thing that kept her climbing was the image of how the little girl would look when she had her most prized possession tucked in her arms.

After what seemed like hours of climbing, Rin could finally see the doll, barely a rag and some horse hair, swaying in the branches a little ways up. If Rin stood on the tips of her toes and reached with all of her strength, she reasoned she might be able to knock the doll loose with her fingers. If she could only stretch a little higher, maybe push up a little farther, she could grab it.

There was a defined cracking noise as the branch beneath her feet gave out, followed by the terrible clenching in her stomach that only the moment of stepping off a ledge and realizing nothing is there could give. One moment she was on something solid that held her weight, the next she was falling fifteen feet to the ground. Rin was too afraid to think, too startled to scream. Her hands flew out by instinct in order to protect her face. Her arms and legs curled up against her, preparing for the blow that would inevitably kill.

Instead, something soft but sturdy wrapped around Rin and for a few moments she felt she was floating in thin air. Rin pinched her eyes shut and, suddenly, she was safely sitting on the grass with the little girl's doll resting in her lap. Confusion whirled around her as nausea from the fall and the shock rumbled in her throat.

"Can I open my eyes?" the girl asked, sounding so hopeful that Rin's mind surfaced quickly from its muddled haze.

"Um, y-yes," Rin replied unsteadily.

She popped her eyes open and, when she saw the toy Rin was holding out to her, she began to squeal, chuckle, and dance around the field, swinging the doll around over and over. The sun was fading in the distance, lighting the small housetops orange. Even the girl's hair looked as though it were on fire.

"Thanks, miss," she said to the older girl with a little wave. "Thanks for th' magic."

There was no time to wave back. With a big smile and a quick bow, she was gone off down the road towards her home. Soberly, Rin moved to collect her basket but it slipped from her fingers and turned over. She pressed her hands against her chest, shaking so hard that her whole body was quaking. She felt numb down to her toes. Rin was so uncertain as to what had happened that she was in disbelief. Had it actually been magic to save her?

Drops of sweat dripped down her face though it was cool out. Rin knew that if she could see herself, she would see a sickly pale girl in a torn and muddy kimono with wild, brown hair clumping in places, stuck by tree sap.

"That was unwise, Rin," a rich baritone said evenly.

Seeing her Lord step out from behind the oak she had just climbed, Rin turned to a bush beside her and threw up her breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2: Secrets

This chapter has implied sexual themes, so if you're uncomfortable with those things, please avert your eyes and run away screaming.

But, it's nothing gross or graphic, I swear! I don't write stuff like that.

Anyway, enjoy.

Oh yeah. I don't own anything. (Not even Sesshomaru. Dammit.)

* * *

Chapter Two

Secrets

A red blush of shame plagued Rin's cheeks as though it were a rash. Jaken and Sesshomaru had waited patiently as she vomited, neither saying a word, until she was finished. And now, standing with her hands fastened to her sides in front of Sesshomaru, the embarrassment almost overwhelmed her. She felt as though she had somehow travelled back to when she was a child, being scolded for not walking fast enough or reprimanded for burning her dinner.

"That was unwise," Sesshomaru repeated, thinking she had not heard him.

"I'll say," Jaken piped in. He shook his staff harshly at the girl, the double heads bobbing slightly. "If Lord Sesshomaru hadn't deemed your life worthy enough to save, you would have died, you silly thing!"

"A little girl…her doll was up a tree." The explanation, now said, sounded more ridiculous with each word. No demon – no human in control of their wits, either – would risk themselves for something made of cloth and thread. But she had. It had been a silly, dangerous situation to rush into; Rin realized that now. She also realized that she would never have been able to turn her back on that little girl no matter how angry Sesshomaru would become.

However, as far as Rin could tell, he was not angry. Then again, she could only read him as far as he would allow her. A few times she would see something flash under his eyes, barely scraping at emotion, and then in the next moment it would disappear, leaving her to wonder if she had simply imagined it. She had learned to interpret his body language, any small movement, to tell her what he thought.

Rin jumped when a two-headed staff swung alarmingly close to her nose.

"A tree? Why are you so fascinated with trees lately?" Shaking his head, Jaken muttered something about the stupidity of mortal women. He then made an obvious show of appraising her appearance. "And look at you! We will be ashamed to be seen with you!"

"Jaken."

Swiftly, the frog demon slapped his beak shut. He grunted, frustrated, and looked to Sesshomaru, who looked back steadily and without further comment. They would leave. Staying near a human village for too long caused the humans to become anxious, often violent, and Rin had no desire to see them slaughtered by the great demon's blade. She stared longingly at the simple houses, experiencing a small, confusing ache in her heart. She had missed humans but not the memories they brought with them. A moment in the midst of their children and she had almost forgotten how cruel her kind could be.

"Miss! Miss, wait!"

The three stopped, their bodies automatically turning towards the noise. A man dressed in what seemed no better than rags ran up as close to her as he dared once he saw her demon companions. Incredible fear was etched into his gentle, tanned face, and yet he chanced another step forward, and another, and another, stopping only five feet away. Jaken almost dropped his staff with surprise; this was not something humans did regularly. Approaching a woman with a demon? Unspeakable.

"My name's Hiroshi." The man was slightly proud his voice had only shook a little. His hands clasped in front of him, saying, "Are you the woman who got my girl's doll for her?"

"Oh." Rin looked down at her basket. "Yes."

"The town's talking about you. Not just anybody would risk their life for a little toy. And way up in that tree, too. Wow." He let out a soft whistle through his teeth, grinning so wide that Rin had to smile too. He definitely had a certain charm about him. "You are amazing."

"Oh," she said again. This situation was becoming increasingly uncomfortable; she had never received this much attention from a man before and she was uncertain if she hated it or liked it. Flattery, as well, she was unused to.

"She don't have a mama, you know," he said quietly.

Rin's face dropped. She took a few steps to stand in front of the man. "But she told me…the doll…"

"Yeah. Her Mama bought her that before she died. She still thinks her mama's gonna come home." Hiroshi pushed a patch of his black hair out of his eyes. "You know, she needs a mama to treat her right, to teach her about womanly things. I was wondering…if…if you…"

"Rin." The command was firm but there was a slight undertone of annoyance. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed with an unusual show of obvious aggression. It caused one side of Jaken's brow to go up, but he said nothing.

"Coming, Lord Sesshomaru!" the girl called over her shoulder. Pushing her basket to rest on her forearm, she grabbed the man's hand, giving it a good-natured squeeze. "Good journey to you, Mister Hiroshi!"

They left him to stand dejectedly near the oak tree, staring abashedly down at his feet, his bravery fast depleting. Rin breathed a relieved, yet slightly guilty, sigh when they were covered by the green arms of the forest once more. A part of her wondered what the man would have said, what he would have offered, and a part of her squirmed at the thought of leaving Sesshomaru. She could not leave him.

They walked in silence, interrupted only by the crushing of branches and twigs under their feet. This silence should not have bothered her. She had lost count of how many hours she spent tracking across the countryside after her demon companions, none of them speaking to the others. Though, at these times, it was rare that Jaken did not talk at least once, and so any moments away from his chatter provided her with some time to her own thoughts. Had she not gone to pick herbs for the main reason of escaping Jaken? Now it itched at her. Rin wanted to speak with Sesshomaru and to ask him the questions she so wished she could ask.

Somehow, though, today she knew that her questions would not be heard.

And so Rin kept to the silence. Her mouth remained firmly shut even as they entered the place where they would sleep for the night, even as Jaken scurried off to collect firewood - which was normally her responsibility - and even as she saw A-Un watching nervously for her. A surprised snort came from the dragon, who eyed her wearily from where he lay, most likely wondering after her odd appearance.

She hid her face the best she could and turned to the river a few paces from the cave in which they would sleep. The river served well as a source of drink and a place for washing clothing. It would serve that much better as somewhere to wash herself away from anyone else, where she could find solace before Sesshomaru spoke to her of her idiotic human sentiment towards a doll.

Her embarrassment overflowed when she glanced down in the water and saw her reflection. Though it was darker out now and the water was a deep blue, Rin could still see the tangled nest of her hair, the lines where unyielding tree branches had whipped at her face. When she removed her kimono, Rin was pleased to see it had remarkably survived without being torn, but it was barely a slight relief. She waded out into the water then. Her scratches stung but the water was refreshing on her skin, washing off the disgusting feeling of dirt that had seemed to creep everywhere, and, honestly, she had suffered much worse.

Dressing, she made her way slowly back and into the cave where her lord sat waiting. Sesshomaru lifted his yellow eyes to hers for a moment before they fell back to a pebble sitting on the ground. Jaken had already gathered the first necessities of wood to start a fire, though he was nowhere to be found, and the flame bathed their surroundings with a hot light.

Rin's hand flew up to tug on the bottom of her braid, as she always did when she was nervous. It was a habit that had formed throughout the years, though she was uncertain when it had started.

With a jolt, she remembered that her hair was cascading around her instead of being pulled back. She then realized that the girl whose doll she had saved had also taken her hair ribbon. She would have to find something else to hold her hair.

She wandered over to the area where their provisions had been set down and, kneeling, she picked up the only comb she had in her possession: a worn, old one made of a dark wood Rin could not name. It had been one of the first gifts Sesshomaru had ever presented her. She treasured it.

They said nothing to each other. Rin could feel his gaze on her back as she worked the tangles out of her long hair. She winced, knowing that he was thinking of the events of that day, but pretended that she had recoiled because the tooth of her comb had hit a particularly stubborn knot. Taking in a breath, she prepared herself for the unpleasant, yet always calm, reprove she would receive for her silly, emotional decision that day.

"What did you want with that man?"

The question was flat and sounded rather lifeless to Rin's ears. It took her off guard, as well, for that was not what she had expected. There was the scrape of shoe against dry dirt as Sesshomaru stood, a powerful figure facing away from her back and seemingly studying the wall of the cave with great interest.

She stood just as he had, carefully, and held back the grin threatening to break out. She forced her eyes to stay focused on the ground, willing her hands to calmly keep the comb running through her hair.

Rin replied honestly: "Nothing. He was thanking me."

"Of course he was."

Sesshomaru stiffened, squelching a wave of anger that washed over him. He had seen the way that man looked at her, and though his demon blood did not give him the ability to look into other's minds, he knew what the human had been thinking.

"Sesshomaru."

Rin slipped her arms around his waist. Though she had been doing this for over three years, it still caught him off guard. Frustratingly so. Sesshomaru wondered idly how long he had been this way with her. When had he allowed her to touch him this way? When had he first kissed her? The kiss, he recalled dully, was a little over two years ago, and had stemmed from Rin's shocking peck on his cheek. He had not expected his face to turn. He had not expected to kiss her.

And yet he had.

As for the touch, she had always tried to touch him in some shape or form ever since she was a child. First it had been his hair, which she had found so fascinating that he had allowed her to explore it, and gradually grew into her grasping onto his arm or reaching up for a hug after a particularly dangerous battle. Rin had even dared once, while they were walking side by side, to stretch out and hold his hand. Sesshomaru, of course, after a surprised second, had shrugged her off and had looked down at her, expecting to see hurt in her eyes but saw only delight that he had permitted her that mere moment.

Then, as she grew, the touch became alarmingly different, repulsive and fascinating at the same time. Rin's hand would brush his as they walked together or her head would lean against his back, arms locked tight around him, as they rode A-Un. And he had allowed it. One night, perhaps a year before, he – _he,_ Lord of the Western Lands – had reached out for _her,_ and it had been her turn to allow his touch. After this, whether it was Sesshomaru or Rin who reached for the other, they would bond themselves together for that night.

They did not speak of these nights. Jaken did not know, though he most likely suspected somewhere in the back of his mind – the part of him which would not fully push away the prospect of a demon and human. Sesshomaru and Rin's conjoined lives continued on each day quietly and unchanged. There was an understanding that did not need to be spoken: it was to be kept secret.

Sesshomaru then wondered _why_ he had lusted after her in the first place. He knew she was not beautiful. Pleasing enough to look at, but beautiful? No, not beautiful. Her hands were calloused and she hardly ever wore shoes unless it was winter or Jaken insisted hard enough. He reasoned that it had been because he was a young demon and he had needed a mate. A calculated, unemotional decision.

He faced her now, his expression as calm as ever.

"Rin," he chided, "do not be childish."

She looped her arms up around his neck and offered him a giant grin. His face was impassive but his eyes were burning liquid pools of ember. Her small hands moved to his neck, slipping under the collar of his shirt to stroke his skin. A jolt of pleasure pulsed through his body, his eyes darkening with the touch. Such a clever little human.

Sesshomaru removed his swords, driving both Tenseiga and Bakusaiga fast into the dirt, not too far away so as to keep them in reach if there were intruders, and then he rounded on Rin. His hand flew up and gripped her chin tightly, tipping her face upward. His mouth came crashing down on hers and he pressed hard enough that it made her lips ache. Rin relished in the feeling, her pulse thumping inside of her veins. Almost shyly, though no one but Rin would have noticed his instant of hesitation, Sesshomaru's arm fell from her face and slipped around her waist, dragging her closer.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" a shrill voice called out from beyond the cave entrance, interrupting them. Startled and embarrassed, Rin made to pull away but Sesshomaru held her firmly to him.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru growled against Rin's lips. "Sleep with A-Un."

"Wha –" The frog demon sounded incredulous at the very idea and he halted just before he could enter the cave. "But, Lord Sesshomaru –"

"Go!"

There was a frightened yelp and small footsteps as Jaken scurried away as fast as his legs would take him. He would be spending his night huddled alongside a large scaly beast, dodging from searing fireballs spewed out of the double-headed dragon's snouts as it slept, curled around his staff as he lamented over his situation.

Rin snickered into her lord's chest, though she stopped when she met his smouldering eyes, slicing her into silence. Fluidly, she pushed his spiked armour from his shoulder, ignoring the sound it made when it fell, kissing and stroking him where it had sat. His eyes closing, he peeled her kimono from her body and slid his teeth neatly into the flesh over her collar bone.

She gasped, startled, and wriggled uncomfortably with the pinpricks of slight pain that he had caused. When Sesshomaru pulled away, she glimpsed blood on his fangs and it rattled her spine with a chill. Confusion then wracked her; he had never done this. Rin tried to meet his eyes, to question the significance behind what he had done, but his fingers were untying her obi and her own had knotted in his hair, and soon her previous thoughts were forgotten. They fell to the ground, Sesshomaru again guiding her lips back to his.


	3. Chapter 3: Discovery

Hello there all. Chapter three is up and running. Yay.

Well, I know I've been updating these chapters pretty quickly, but this will be the last one for at least a week. You see, I've had the first few chapters mostly written, but the rest are far from finished.

Enjoy this one, guys.

I own nothing.

* * *

Chapter Three

Discovery

Each morning after their nights together, Rin awoke to her face nuzzled into a puff of white fur, the dimming firelight flickering on her skin, and the smell of burnt wood. She could always feel when Sesshomaru slid away from her and she knew where he went. He had never stayed long, no matter how she coaxed with her fingers or laid with her head on his chest. She sat up, the fur around her, and looked to the cave entrance. There her Lord sat, dressed in his white under robe, his back leaning against the stony wall as he stared blankly out into the forest.

Rin often wondered what the great demon thought of in his numerous moments of silence. Did he think of his family, of his father and the many sombre memories of his home? Did he relive all the battles he had ever fought, regretting them, or perhaps wondering what he could have done to increase the number of deaths? And what of his arm? Did he begrudge his brother, Inuyasha, for its loss? In his thoughts, did he feel sadness? Fear? Loneliness?

After a long moment, Sesshomaru put his hand on his knee and stood slowly, walking soundlessly to where his clothes lay scattered across the ground. Quietly and efficiently, he dressed in layer after layer, the fabric rustling echoing in the cave. He was tying his colourful sash when he noticed two deep brown eyes watching him.

"I have matters to attend to," he stated.

She pushed back a scowl that plagued her lips and sadly let go of the fur so it fell around her hips. "When will you return?"

"Before nightfall."

As Rin wrapped her kimono around her body, she tried not to look upset, for she knew it displeased him, but she truly hated it when he was gone. It left her too much time alone to do nothing but wonder when he would be back. An aching filled her heart when she thought of the hours ahead, worrying about his safety, and she sighed.

Sesshomaru knelt in front of her. He moved to grab the fur that curled around her, however his clawed fingers brushed along her left arm in such a subtle way that, if Rin had not been looking, she would have excused it as an accident. Sesshomaru did not do anything by accident. A small, knowing smile brightened her temperament – he was comforting her. These were the few moments, when they were alone and when he sensed her unhappiness, that he allowed her touch. She reached up to cup her palms around his face, smoothing her fingers over the odd markings along his cheek bones.

"May I come with you?" she asked softly.

Removing her hands from his face, Sesshomaru slid his fur over his right shoulder. "No, Rin."

"Please, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"No." His yellow eyes regarded her coolly. He did not like it when she begged – it was a demeaning action she hardly performed, and when she did, it bothered him.

There was no use in arguing – Rin knew that very well. Sesshomaru had been leaving her behind a great deal more than usual and it confused her as to why.

"I will be back before nightfall," he repeated. Then, snatching up his two swords, Sesshomaru walked out of the cave. The last she saw of him was his streak of silver hair as he vanished into the forest.

She did not ask why he had bitten her.

* * *

After Sesshomaru had left, Jaken had wandered off, muttering something about a lake nearby. And so Rin was left completely to herself. As she did each day, she set to work on folding the sheets they slept on every night and placing them aside with other things to be washed. Then she searched for the nearest stream to wash herself, combing out her deep brown hair and pleating it into a long braid down her back so that it could be kept out of her way. The sun rose steadily into the sky and as the morning set in, so did a churning sensation in her stomach.

Rin ignored it, brushing it off as worry for her lord's safety. She could not count the many times pure anxiousness for him had caused her guts to squeeze and a sharp ache to pierce her heart. She no longer believed that he was indestructible, perfect, and unable to die. There had been instances that he had come disturbingly close to death at the hands of a powerful demon. No, the beliefs of her childhood had gone, replaced by an undeniable concern.

By the next few hours, she was feeling increasingly faint and the nausea had grown worse by leagues. Since Jaken was not around, she was able to rest without him pestering her about laziness. The respite did not still the sick feeling for long and soon it was back, sitting heavily in the pit of her belly. Still, she worked. There was fruit that needed to be dried, bread that she had to pound and bake while the sun was still risen. Though Jaken occasionally brought her berries he found or nuts he had picked off of the side of the road, Sesshomaru refused human food, and so it had been made clear early in her life that she must provide mainly for herself on this subject.

"Miss Rin!" a cheerful voice called unsurely from outside the cave.

Surprised, Rin sat up from her task and leaned towards the direction of the noise. She half expected it to be Jaken, but he had never called her "miss" in all her life. Also, at the best of times, Jaken was not the cheerful sort.

It was Mahako, a raccoon demon pup. She had a striped grey and black bush of a tail that bounced whenever Mahako ran, which was almost constant since she ran everywhere. Her grey eyes made her hair look even darker and her pointed black ears perked at whatever noise they could possibly pick up. Mahako was an uncanny thing to look at, sometimes even more so than Jaken, however these were not the only aspects that caught Rin's attention. It fascinated her how Mahako was so adept at finding things, even items that had been lost for years, but she supposed that was because raccoons were known scavengers.

Jaken did not like the girl. He murmured how she was unruly and without manners – Rin suspected that he was simply jealous that she had found another demon other than him to spend her time with, though she never said so. Any comment of the sort would have sent Jaken into a gasping rage of denial. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, tolerated Mahako wordlessly at times and ignored her completely at others. As long as the child stayed out of his way and visited mostly when he was gone, he did not care what she did.

As she stepped into the outside light, Rin saw the little girl, barely seven years old, standing uncertainly by a large rock. Immediately, the girl's face broke out into a large smile and she cried, "Miss Rin! It's good to see ya!"

Mahako's happiness always lifted Rin's spirits. The demon girl bounced around and chattered about her simple demon family living outside of the village, of how her father traded with humans, of her mother's garden behind their home. Normally, Rin listened with unrivalled interest, eager to hear tales of other demons than the few she knew. However, today was decidedly different. Today Mahako's stories simply annoyed and the observations that Rin would have found funny were only giving her a pounding headache.

After a few snapping comments, Mahako slipped into a brooding silence and concentrated on folding the clothes over a rock to dry in the sun. Beside her, Rin washed out the kimono she had worn the night before. The steady rhythm of slapping the cloth against a rock and dipping it back into the water distracted her. Smack. Dip. Smack. Dip. It was comforting and took her mind off of the nausea she had been feeling for hours.

"Miss Rin," Mahako whispered, "are ya all right? Yer turnin' greener than Jaken."

"I'm not feeling well today." Rin leaned her hand against her forehead, wiping the sweat on her brow. "I think I've caught a sickness."

"Have ya gone to the village to see a doctor? They'll treat ya even if ya reek of demon. Humans can't smell like we can. If yer human, like them, they'll help."

Just as she said the words, the bushes behind them rustled and parted. A two-headed staff shot abruptly out of the thick brush, pushing the leaves roughly aside so that its wielder could step through. Jaken wandered out to them, looking quite satisfied with himself – this time his favourite robe had survived his small journey without a single tear. However, that look quickly faded when he thought over what the raccoon demon had said.

"A doctor?" His slit eyes narrowed. "Who's sick?"

"Miss Rin."

Jaken leaned closer to Rin, inches from her face, and peered carefully at her. His eyes were not as they had been – even if he was a demon – and he needed to be twice as close to see anything half as well.

"You don't look sick to me," he observed coldly.

Mahako glared. "Miss Rin, ya should go to a doctor."

Jaken huffed at the ridiculousness, waving off Mahako's worries. Suddenly, he lifted up a fish, his green fingers holding it by its scaly back fin. "Here, eat something. Lord Sesshomaru will kill me if you starve."

Rin knew he was simply showing concern in his own way, but his act of brusque kindness made her queasiness multiply. Pools of dried blood peppered around a gaping wound on the fish's stomach and she could almost swear the animal was still wriggling, though her eyes were throbbing enough that she could not tell.

And the smell.

The smell!

Her vision blurred and her stomach gurgled. Rin tossed the fish into the dirt somewhere, anywhere, as long as it and its overwhelming odour was far away from her. She bolted towards the trees, emitting a loud moaning that spurred from the nausea in her stomach. As Rin rounded a tree, she could faintly hear Jaken exclaim, "Ungrateful girl!" and the frustrated smack of the end of a staff hitting a boulder.

Rin sprinted through the trees, a hand clapped over her mouth to desperately keep in her stomach's contents. She made it to a bush in time to retch up what little she had eaten for dinner yesterday. Clutching onto the grass, she threw up twice more until she was gurgling nothing but slimy spit and her pulse slammed against her eyelids.

She coughed, swept her long hair from her face, and stood. She looked down at herself, angered to find that her clean kimono had been ruined.

After awhile, Mahako went into the forest to look for Rin. She found her friend lying on the ground, her face pressed against a cold rock to dull the throbbing in her head. Mahako watched her, studying her thoughtfully, and was able from this angle to notice the recent swelling in her breasts and, though mostly hidden by thick fabric, the small bump on her stomach. Though young, Mahako had spent her life around adults and a sharp realization hit her.

"Miss Rin," Mahako gasped in awe. "Yer havin' a baby."

Rin's eyes widened in shock and she opened her mouth to set the child straight but found herself speechless, words failing her. Somehow, deep inside of herself, she knew that Mahako was correct. She could not ignore the changes that had been happening to her body, and had been happening for a long time. She had simply ignored them.

Rin knew what had afflicted her and it was certainly no illness.

"Miss Rin!" the little demon cheered, clapping her hands as she jumped up and down. "Yer _havin' a baby_!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Rin grabbed the little girl and shook her roughly by the shoulders. "Be quiet, Mahako!"

Mahako quickly stilled her jumping, her jaw clamping shut as her grey eyes filled with tears. They listened, Rin straining to hear if a certain frog demon had managed to follow them without their knowledge. There was nothing but the normal forest noises; a strange bird called somewhere off in the distance. A bigger animal chased a smaller one up a tree a few feet away, causing branches to snap and leaves to tumble down. The creaking wheel of a cart could be heard close by, however it was clearly a merchant and he served no threat.

No sign of Jaken.

Mahako dug her shoe into the ground and unearthed a pebble, looking sheepish. "Sorry, Miss Rin."

Rin sighed. She let go of the girl, shame building up inside her. "No," she whispered. "I'm sorry. But, please, don't tell anyone. Please keep this secret."

Mahako nodded her agreement and they began a slow, anxious walk back to where their washing lay unfinished, abandoned in the confusion. Rin's head spun, her thoughts chasing after each other like beasts, her bewildered mind trying to sort through all that lay inside of her. Her thoughts naturally went to Inuyasha, a child born of the love between a demon and human. As quickly as she had thought of it, she wished she had not. Sesshomaru had hated Inuyasha, his own blood-relative, for as long as Rin could remember. All of his anger, his distasteful glares, and his pure resentment towards half demons came back to her, almost knocking her over.

The little girl looked up at Rin. Suddenly, she asked, "Will ya tell Lord Sesshomaru?"

Rin stared down at Mahako, her stomach roiling although her head told her that she was finished throwing up. This once, she was certain that it was not the pregnancy, but the thought of speaking to her lord that was making her sick.

All she could hear was the roaring of blood.

All she could see was a green blur of trees.

They barely made their way back to the river before Rin could hold on no longer. Her legs shuddered once and she stumbled forward. That was when they failed to support her weight any longer.

"Jaken!" Mahako shouted out in alarm, diving forward. "She's going to f –"

Her words were swiftly cut off as Rin felt the hold on her senses give way, breaking apart. A black foam covered her eyes and she heard nothing more.


	4. Chapter 4: Gifts and Goodbyes

Yay! Another chapter!

Okay. So it hasn't been a week, like I said. Maybe it's because I have no life?

Whatever.

Enjoy!

We all know I don't own Inuyasha no matter how much I wish I did.

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Chapter Four

Gifts and Goodbyes

When she first opened her eyes, it took Rin a full moment to completely remember what had happened. She recalled Mahako reaching for her in a fraught attempt to cease her fall and the sight of the ground rushing up to meet her. Rin noted dazedly that she was now lying on something damp. The child raccoon demon was sitting beside her, her hands clutched tightly together. She looked at Rin, blushing a little. "Ya fell in the river," she explained. Her fingers squeezed together. "I couldn't catch ya."

"How…?" Rin began, but did not finish. When she spoke, her tongue rolled around heavily in her mouth and did not do as she wanted.

"How're you not drowned?" Mahako shrugged her thin shoulders and then smiled. "Jaken helped me pull ya out and yer big, scaly watch dog did the rest."

There was a weak laugh from Rin as she pictured A-Un the way Mahako had described. He was indeed as protective of her as any watch dog would be. He may not have been able to bark or growl, but he was certainly able to scorch anyone who tried to attack her.

And then Mahako's words sunk in. "Jaken did?" There was more than a little surprise in her voice. Rin had thought that Jaken would be more than pleased to see her swallowed up in the river's current. For years he had made sharp comments on her humanity, on her weaknesses, and her death would have removed all of that aggravation from his life.

And yet…And yet Jaken had been the one to bandage her cuts when she fell or to let her cuddle to him after a nightmare, telling her that silly human imaginings would not harm her. Strangely enough, he had been more a mother to her than her own mother had ever been. She did not remember much of her life before, but she did remember that it had been relatively happy enough, though nothing that could compare with being with her fellow travelers now. Still, she recalled her mother had never been as attentive as Jaken could be when he let himself.

He would be happy with her death?

She should have known better.

Mahako grinned so wide her teeth caught what little light there was in the cave and gleamed. "Yup. Practically fainted himself when he saw ya were okay."

The frog demon in question sat on the other side of Rin, keeping his eyes securely fixated on his three little green toes stretched out in front of him. If she squinted, she was certain that she saw a faint red dusting his cheeks, but her head was still spinning and it hurt to concentrate so intensely on anything.

Before she knew it, he was speaking. "I'll fetch Lord Sesshomaru. He won't be happy once he knows you're ill."

Rin jerked up, ignoring the pounding in her head. Her hand shot out and grabbed Jaken by his arm. "No! Don't tell him!"

Mahako and Jaken simply blinked at her. She had never acted out towards him like this. Not once had she yelled at him, let alone dare to lay her hands on him without his permission.

"Let go of me!" he squawked, his eyes going large with alarm. "You can't order me to do anything! I am Lord Sesshomaru's vessel!"

"Jaken, please!" He seemed to have heard the desperation in her voice, for he stopped struggling and stared at her. She moved her grip to his little hands, looking him unflinchingly in the eye. "Please."

For a moment, she was terrified he would not agree. She held her breath, awaiting his decision to smack her away with his staff and rush off to tell Sesshomaru.

He sighed heavily and said, "All right, all right."

"You won't tell Sessh – Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin could have bitten her tongue off for her mistake, though he did not seem to notice or care.

"No. Now release me."

Rin did as he ordered, her hands snapping off of him as though he had bitten her. He would never bite her, but it had still felt the same. Sometimes, Jaken seemed harder to approach even more than Sesshomaru – perhaps it was because of his awkward signs of affection, in which Sesshomaru chose often to show no affection at all, or his hurtful words towards humans and especially towards women. She prayed he would keep his promise. She did not know if he would; she would have to wait.

She did not have to wait long.

A few tense moments later, a thudding noise from outside of the cave's mouth startled the three to their feet, Rin bracing herself against the cave wall. They made their way carefully outside, Jaken holding his staff far in the air to swiftly cook whomever was foolish enough to wander into a demon's camp. Rin wondered idly why A-Un had not made some sort of warning call of intruders as he always did. Unless he had somehow been permanently silenced.

"Be careful, you fool!" a woman's voice shouted. "Break nothing or I will have your tongue."

The three emerged from the cave and paused. Their eyes adjusted to the darkness that had somehow set in during however long Rin had spent unconscious. More than outraged, they were now shocked, for in front of them stood a handful of fox demons dressed in furs, their red and white tails swinging as they carried out armfuls of assorted chests, rolls of silks, and open boxes of jewellery. A-Un sat watching them, seeming extremely upset with sitting by and allowing these unknown people wander around.

"What are you doing?" Jaken screeched at a man dropping a chest on the ground.

One of the demons spun around and Rin's head throbbed as she took in the sight of the woman in front of her. Most demon women that Rin had ever seen wore robes with billowing sleeves, or kimonos of remarkable quality and colour. This woman, however, showed her body off daringly, her entire form dressed in animal furs and armour. Her bright yellow-green eyes blazed until Rin's head spun and her brown-red hair flew wildly everywhere.

Jaken's bulging eyes narrowed. "Kira."

She stared down at him with as much contempt as he did her_. "Lady_ Kira to you, toad."

"Toad!" he gasped, his staff swinging with his fury.

The demon woman looked around, ignoring Jaken completely. She dismissed him as easily as one would dismiss an ant crawling on their arm, tossing it off with the flick of a finger, and she scrutinized her surroundings with simple curiosity. It was then that her gaze fell on Rin.

"He still keeps that human girl around." Kira's sharp eyes studied the person in front of her thoughtfully. Though she frowned, Rin could not see any threat or anger towards her. Kira's eyebrows rose slightly as she said, "Though I suppose 'girl' is not the right word for you any longer."

Jaken leapt in front of Rin with the most furious expression on his face he had ever made. "What are you doing here, _Lady_ Kira?" he snapped. "Once Lord Sesshomaru knows of your presence, he'll get rid of you."

"Go to him, if you wish," – she waved to the area behind her, where Rin caught the flash of white hair – "but you will not succeed in chasing me out. I helped him purchase these items." Leaving Jaken to sputter wordlessly, Kira turned to Rin. "These are my men. They will do you no harm, human. If they do, I'll kill them. You have my word."

"I..." She could find no words except: "Thank you."

The fox demon nodded once and, without another word, stalked away. She swished her fox tail contemptuously and said something to one of her men with a scar down his face that made him frown. As if under a silent signal, the men laid down easily what he was carrying and gathered together in some formation. Before they left, Rin caught Kira send a flirtatious smile towards Sesshomaru. A bush moved and they were gone off to an unknown destination.

Rin rubbed her temples. "She's beautiful."

"Hmph." The raccoon pup folded her arms, clearly not impressed. "She's okay. Not nearly as pretty as you, Miss Rin."

Rin blushed at that.

As Mahako dropped down to examine the chests, Sesshomaru appeared from behind a stack of leather-bound scrolls, his hand hidden behind the thick fur on his shoulder. To Jaken, he offered a soft white robe that looked plain, but upon closer inspection showed thread-thin tendrils spreading across the fabric in a spreading wave of clear white fire.

To Rin, he held up a small lacquer box that fit easily inside of her palm. It was made from dark wood, lighter in weight than she would suspect, and had tree branches carved so intricately into it that Rin was half expecting a leaf or two to fall off onto the ground with each passing breeze. Squirrels were spread across the box, hidden behind a few branches or chewing on a nut in the shade of a spider's web.

"Lord Sesshomaru, everything is so beautiful." As though to make her point, she reached into the chest next to her foot and felt a kimono between her thumb and forefinger, marvelling at the soft material and intricate stitching. This specific kimono had red and orange koi that danced their way up the sleeves to the deep blue fabric ocean.

Next, she held up a beautiful comb made entirely of glass, inlaid with black pearls, and found her breath taken away. Turning to a gold-encrusted mirror resting against a rock, she held the comb up to her face. Rin was not usually impressed by finery, but she had never seen so many riches in all her life. She could not keep herself from appreciating these new gifts. How would she look in these kimonos? How would she arrange her hair with this comb? Up or down?

But then, Jaken had begun talking, and the words he said sliced into her: "These things will be for your wife, Lord Sesshomaru?"

She tried not to look at him. And yet she found herself unable to look away. Her chest constricted with a sharp pain and an unknown thought she could not put to words repeated inside of her.

"Yes."

Quickly and viciously, the comb thudded to the floor. The three watched in shocked silence as the pieces of glass cracked and shattered all around Rin's feet. Her arms laid uselessly at her sides, her hands making fists in her kimono. She had not even tried to catch it.

Jaken stared, speechless for once, at the broken comb on the floor. Then his green skin turned an awful red, flushed with rage, and his eyes practically rolled out of his head.

"L-Look w-w-what –" he spluttered. He had to pause to calm himself enough to speak. His little finger pointed at the shattered treasure. "Look what you've done, you clumsy girl!"

"I apologize, Master Jaken." Rin felt a small pang of guilt for breaking something that was not hers. She truly was sorry. But she was a woman now, not a child, and she would decide how she conducted herself, not Jaken. She would not apologize to Sesshomaru. No mater how Jaken barked or threatened, she would not apologize.

"Don't worry, Miss Rin," Mahako said, breaking the silence. "I'll clean this right up for ya." She bent down on her knees to begin scooping up the shattered pieces with her deft fingers. "Shame, though. It were a real pretty thing."

Rin's face burned with a harsh blush. Mahako was poor – she had never had the privilege of fine things in her life. She had never known lacquer jewellery boxes or kimonos made from the purest satin in the land. Rin, on the other hand, had not gone without since she was a child and had forgotten what it had felt like to look longingly at a necklace she wanted desperately and was unable to have it. And here she had broken such a beautiful piece of craftsmanship without a thought towards those girls who would give their left hands for it.

Choking back ashamed tears, Rin spun on her heel and sprinted from the cave as fast as she could on still wobbly legs. Jaken and Mahako exchanged looks, for once not bothering to insult each other, for their concern for Rin outweighed their lust for banter. Sesshomaru, who had been quietly observing this all as it had happened, slid out of the cave and followed silently after the young woman.

Though his feet wished to run, he willed himself to simply walk, and he cursed himself for that unpleasant emotion. He thought then of the odd presence he had been sensing since that morning, an extra heartbeat that could not be accounted for; there were four of them, but five individual energies. It was strong, demonic, and yet its energy was impossible to pinpoint, as though it were under leagues of water. He could not properly name where it was, though he somehow knew it was not a threat nor was it strong enough to pose any problem.

He found her standing a few feet from the cave itself, having not gone far in her rush for she had nowhere else to go. Rin's hair glistened raven-black in the rising moonlight and, for a moment, Sesshomaru wondered why he had not thought her beautiful. Today she glowed much like the moon though her eyes were as dark as the sky above them.

They stood, Sesshomaru facing her and Rin facing the mirror, for ages. She did not speak and he did not force her to. He knew that she could not possibly stay silent for long, not when something was truly bothering her.

He was correct.

Rin glanced up at the sky. "Are you to marry that woman?"

If he had not had his heightened hearing, he would not have heard her – she had been so quiet, as though the words she had said had taken all the air in her body to force out.

"Woman?" Sesshomaru's eyebrow tweaked.

"That demon woman."

"If I wish it."

"Then forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru." She looked at him for but a moment, a quick flicker of her eyes, and then looked away. She whispered, "You will be a father before a husband."

Sesshomaru watched Rin look at herself in the mirror. Her hands studied the spot where he had bitten her, and then traveled down, down, down to rest on her stomach. That presence he had felt before surged powerfully when her palms touched her abdomen. He now understood. Rin was with child. He could feel the presence inside of her, strong with its half demon blood.

An emotion Sesshomaru had only felt once trickled into his body.

Fear. He felt _fear._

Then Rin turned to him, tears streaming down her face, and his fear was quickly replaced by another emotion he did not usually feel. She did not want a child. No. She did not want _his_ child. Any other man's child would have given her joy. His would only give her misery.

"Get out," he whispered

She had been reaching out to him, but at seeing his face, her hand dropped. "Sesshomaru?"

"Leave!" he snarled, his eyes turning a vicious red.

He did not bother to watch her leave; he had heard her footsteps retreating back into the cave. He heard the raccoon demon child step up close to him, even saw from the corner of his eye that she glared at him, and waited patiently for her to leave as well. She did, but not before cutting him one last fierce look as she ran off.

Sesshomaru was unaware how long he stared at his own reflection in that cursed mirror. For a moment, he was certain he saw a child in the mirror with him, a child with silver-white hair and what could only be described as a sad-looking expression on his face as he watched his father doting on the child from another woman – a filthy _human _woman – and paid the other boy no attention. Sesshomaru's hand clenched into a fist as the image swayed and disappeared in front of him.

He hated humans. They were all filthy. Suddenly, a hole of disgust opened inside of his stomach. How could he have forgotten such a thing? Obviously, he had spent far too long away from his kind.

Turning abruptly from the mirror, Sesshomaru walked back into the cave where Jaken and Rin sat side by side. This spoke to him as strange. Jaken could hardly walk five feet from the girl without commenting on her manners, her smell, or other such nonsense that he found revolting.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin whispered, not meeting his eyes.

When had her voice sounded so lovely? When had the sight of her face caused two parallel feelings inside of him?

He must leave. He could not stay any longer. This news had disturbed him, had caused him to feel confused. It had shaken anything he had ever believed and turned his mind in on itself. It was impossible and yet a small human woman had done this to him.

"Jaken. I have matters to attend to." Oddly, they did not move or even acknowledge him. He gripped the handle of his sword Tenseiga. "I will return tomorrow evening."

When he left, Rin followed, much to his surprise. She kept her distance and that distance bit at him deeper than it ever had before. It had never bothered him when she walked that far behind, as she should for that was her place, however now he felt the inexcusable need for her to walk at his side. She had, a few times, scurried up to walk beside him, but he had never wished it.

And he wished it now.

Again, he felt disgusted with himself for thinking such a thing.

Their partings had always been silent. There was no confirmation of worry for his life, no expression of a safe travel, and certainly no expression of goodbye. Rin would simply watch him vanish over the horizon, not leaving where she stood sometimes for an hour after he had gone. It had been like this for years.

"Goodbye, Lord Sesshomaru," she said. "Return safely."

Sesshomaru turned, partially startled. Not only did her words strike him as odd, but something about her face bothered him. This was not how Rin smiled. Her smiles were always obliviously happy, always blindly delighted, no matter the circumstances. This one was acutely different.

It was sad.

If his memory served him, and it always did, the only time he could recall Rin being truly sad was when he had first met her. Even then she had smiled at him as though he had given her the world as a present. There was no trace of that same smile now. She gazed at him through her dark brown lashes, her hand lifted slightly as though in a wave.

Why did this feel like a farewell?

He stopped for a split moment, concerned enough for it to halt him, but he quickly dismissed it as the strange follies of human women that Jaken had warned him about. His feet started up their pace once more and he smacked away any absurd uneasiness pricking in his chest. She would be there when he returned, just as she had always been.

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Hi there! Thought I'd point out that I, the author, made a sort of informal appearance in this chapter as an OC. (Guess who.) But too bad I'm not beautiful. Ah, dreams.

Anyway. Read and review, please!


	5. Chapter 5: Home

Annnnnnnnnnndddddddddddddddd another chapter done. Phew.

Thank you all for the spectacular reviews. I have to say that one of your reviews (girl, I hope you know who you are) was the one that made me smile the most and urged me on to post this next chapter.

I hope you all enjoy.

I own nothing. Never forget that.

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Chapter Five

Home

Once Jaken was asleep that night, curled in on himself a handbreadth from the fire, Rin tiptoed out of the cave and spared only one melancholy glance backward at the demon who had raised her. She sent him her silent goodbye, wondering who he would nag and who would sew his robes when they inevitably tore.

She left behind for him her thread and needle.

Rin stood outside of the cave trying to calm her pounding heart. Once she had seen Sesshomaru's face, the decision had been made for her. He had been afraid. She had never seen the demon lord afraid in her life.

It was not in her to believe that Sesshomaru could kill their child. He had done so many purely cruel things, but she knew that that was one thing he would never do. That was not why she was leaving. No, he would not harm the baby. She was leaving because he did not want it. She had spent half her years as an unwanted child and she would not watch her own go through the same thing.

An unwanted child is not much of a child, and even less of an adult when they are grown. They need the attention of those around them and give way easily to anger, revenge, and hate. Rin was certain that she would doom her own baby to this fate if she stayed.

Her heart ached, but she could not stay. She simply could not.

"Hello, A-Un," she whispered to the dragon. It lifted its two heads, its eyes opening blearily in the late hour. It emitted a gentle, happy groan when she leaned her forehead against its body and began stroking its black mane. "Take care of them for me, A-Un."

A-Un grunted sharply, its four eyes creasing in a sleepy sadness. She pet its mane until it fell back to sleep, slipping a sheathed knife from the pack sitting next to it. Jaken had stored the weapon there just in case the three of them were ever taken off guard by attackers while Sesshomaru was not there to protect them. Now she tucked the knife into her obi, wary of the sharp weapon pressing against the folds of fabric. Her satchel slung up around her arm, she tightened her braided hair and, not sparing another thought or look backward, she walked away from everything she had ever known.

Rin was more than exalted to cut through the forest trees towards the general direction of Inuyasha's home. It had been nearly eight years since she had visited Sesshomaru's brother but she found it hardly difficult at all to remember the path. She recognized the landmarks Jaken had taught her – rocks, boulders, a willow tree, a mud-hole lake the shape of a foot – and found it easier and easier to navigate through the forest.

She had always felt a sort of kinship to the forest, being as she had spent half her life in its presence. It was as though the trees parted for her, stinging nettles failed to cling to her clothing, mosquitoes bounced off of her and her hair passed easily through branches. Tonight, the forest seemed to revolt against her, whipping at her face, tripping her feet, tearing at her kimono. With each branch against her flesh, each fall, Rin's heart broke a little more and, before she could properly understand her actions, she was sprinting blindly through the trees.

By the fourth or fifth hour, she realized she was hopelessly lost. What had previously been clearly recognizable became muddled and unfamiliar. Instead of wandering aimlessly, doing herself more harm than good, she slid down to hide herself from animals inside of an indent in the ground beneath a jet of rock. An hour passed by from then, or two hours and more, as Rin could not tell from her hiding place. Her back and legs ached from holding them so straight. The mud in her hair was drying and that felt truly awful. She was bone tired as well, realizing she had not slept at all the entire night. Her eyes flickered with the effort of trying to stay awake, her mouth forming a silent yawn.

A branch breaking jolted her fully awake and she snapped up to her feet, crawling out from the ground. Her hand went immediately to the knife, pulling it out and holding it with shaking hands. She had not held a weapon before, at least not with the intent to kill, and she found that the very thought tore down to her soul. However, there was a life inside of her she had to protect. Rin was surprised when her fingers gripped the knife's handle with more determination than she felt.

"S-show yourself!" she called, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

A voice said sombrely, "Peace, human. It's only me."

Rin relaxed slightly as the familiar form of the fox demon, Kira, took shape out of the darkness. Her demon eyes glinting eerily in the moonlight, Kira ambled carefully and unthreateningly towards Rin.

"Walking around in the forest alone is a stupid act, even for a human. Even if you are armed, a knife will do no good against a hungry demon." She flicked her sharp canine teeth pointedly, grinning. Her arms folded as she studied Rin's few meagre things around her. "Where are you going?"

She was not sure why her heart flamed almost angrily at this woman, but the side of her lip pulled up in an unconscious snarl. The words from the night before roared in her mind. "_Are you to marry that woman?"_

_"If I wish it."_

Rin could not look at the woman as she answered, "A human village. I have…There are people there who will take me in."

Kira looked justly puzzled. "I doubt Sesshomaru has grown tired of you – he was a great deal too fond of you for that. So why, may I ask, are you going to a human village?"

Rin said nothing. So many times she was close to saying something and this is when she chose to say nothing.

"So you won't tell me." The woman sighed almost wearily. She took a few steps away and then heaved another heavy breath, seeming to fight off some inner thoughts of her own. Kira lifted her hand and curled her finger twice at Rin. "Follow me."

"What?"

"I can't very well have you dying on me, now can I?" she asked. "Runaway or no, Sesshomaru would have my tail if he knew I had let you parish out in this forest."

Though the very idea of being aided by this demon made Rin cringe, there was not much choice. She was either to stay with Sesshomaru or entrust her safety – as well as the safety of her child – to a demon she had met only hours before. She could not stay and so she would go.

Quietly, Kira led Rin around the forest. They wandered from the farthest tree to the one closest as possible to them in a confusing and eccentric path. They walked and walked back and forth. Rin tripped along after the fox demon, falling, stumbling, sprawling and lurching until she was covered with mud from her dark brown hair to the toes of her painfully annoying shoes. Her clothes clung to her and she had to constantly pick up the hem of her kimono when it became tangled up in her legs.

Rin wondered a little as to why Kira's movements were so erratic and unusual, when she understood that the fox demon must have been purposely wandering around so as to throw off whoever she imagined Rin to be escaping from. Despite her ire towards the woman, Rin admitted begrudgingly that she was grateful.

"Shall we stop?" Kira repeated for the third time since they had begun. She said a little snidely, "I understand humans need their rest."

The very idea made Rin's temper move like molten lava beneath her skin. She had abandoned her shoes one mile back, her feet feeling free for the first time in weeks, but she had not caused the woman to think she was weak. She had not complained, she had not stopped for a moment, and she was proud that she had kept up with the demon's strong legs step for step.

"No," Rin said.

And they trudged on.

The two made their way slowly through the forest in a sluggish, trudging march over slippery slopes, past drooping trees, wilting flowers and buzzing insects. Wasps plagued the air and mosquitoes bit at Rin's skin, though the air was cold now that the year had fallen into the autumn months. Kira led her to a spot that was not particular nor spectacular. To Rin, it resembled all the other parts of the forest she had seen before: the same rocks, the same dirt, the same everything. Had they gone in circles?

"This is as far as I can take you."

Before Rin could open her mouth to answer, Kira was in movement. Sweeping aside some brush, she exposed a small valley with houses spread apart from each other; they were so small and simple, even moreso than the last human village Rin had seen, that they almost marred the gentle green grass they sat upon. There, so close that she had to gasp, was a hut built on probably the only hill in the cavernous valley. The hut was certainly nothing special with its sagging wooden roof, plain brown windows, small wrap-around porch and dreary grey curtains, but there was a touch of beauty to the home by a splash of colourful flowers and herbs growing in a small garden on the side.

Kira left just as Kagome slid her front door open, stepping out with a bundle of sheets piled in her arms, and Rin simply stood, her feet frozen to the dirt, as she waited for the older woman to notice her. First, Kagome's eyes widened, then her arms tightened around her bundle, and finally her face decided on looking mildly surprised but gentle.

Kagome was as pretty as Rin could remember, though perhaps wiser and more seasoned. There was still that saucy spark in her eyes, as though daring Rin to do something as rash as perhaps attempting to attack in a powerful half demon's household. Her defiant stance stated that there were also demon hunters close by if any threat was presented.

"Who are you?" Kagome demanded.

"Rin."

With a raised eyebrow, Kagome could not rush Rin into the hut faster if she tied her in ropes and dragged her in. No sooner had she stepped past the threshold than Rin found herself seated at the table with Inuyasha and Kagome, cleaned up from her excursion in the forest and holding a steaming bowl of food. Her nose scrunched up at the bowl in her hand. Though she did so want to eat, for she had not eaten since two days before, the rolling in her stomach fast discouraged her hunger.

Turning her head, she placed the bowl down as a sadness crept over her. Suddenly, she felt tired beyond her years. Her hands went around her stomach, trying desperately to gain some strength to carry on with what she desperately needed to do.

"I have come for your help," she provided. "I am...I...it is..." No matter how she tried, the words did not form and she leaned back, pleading that she could keep from vomiting.

"Rin." Kagome moved a little around on her knees, her eyes wide as her mind slowly worked together the signs she was seeing. "Are you…pregnant?"

No answer was needed; the faint pink blush that spread under Rin's tanned skin told the married couple everything they wanted to know. A double set of fearful, confused eyes fixed on her, studied her, and examined the presence they could feel emanating from her. A moment of tasting the small ball of energy in her stomach caused the half demon's face to contort in pure, unbridled fury.

"That idiot bastard!" Inuyasha snarled.

"Sesshomaru doesn't want this child." For an unknown reason, Rin suddenly wanted to explain to them. "I believe he thinks it's what I want."

"That bastard."

"Inuyasha, shut up." Kagome cut her husband a sharp glare, attempting to clarify that he was hindering this situation, and then she gave Rin a soft, level look. "_Is _it what you want?"

"No." Rin looked at her hands in her lap. "It's not."

The young priestess nodded in understanding. "Don't worry, Rin. You can stay here with us."

"She what!" Inuyasha smacked the table with his fist, the dishes clattering noisily. A bowl of rice toppled over as he leaned into his wife. "Kagome, you can't be taking on more things in your condition."

It was then Rin truly saw the bulge underneath Kagome's robes and she realized that the two girls had a great deal more in common than she first thought.

"Taking care of _you _is hard enough. But I'm not an invalid." There was a flash of anger in her dark eyes for a heated moment before she reached over to take his hand in hers. "She has nowhere else to go," Kagome pointed out sadly.

"I –" he stuttered.

Her fingers squeezed his palm tenderly. "Thanks for agreeing."

Inuyasha could do nothing but grumble at that and they knew he had given in.

* * *

Months passed, at times much quicker than she expected and at oft times as slowly as she expected. Miroku and Sango accepted Rin in their community as easily as they would another addition to their ever-growing family and Sango's brother, Kohaku, found time from his demon-hunting responsibilities to speak with her while she went about her chores.

Soon after Rin's love for plants was discovered, Kagome sent her immediately to train with Kaede, to learn how to create healing poultices and which herb cured what sickness. Kohaku sometimes wandered around with Rin, poking at hanging thyme and making faces at the strong aroma sitting like a fog around them. Rin suspected he was merely trying to keep her company, but she was glad for his interest and went along with his ruse. She showed him gantwort, how its spiny leaves could bring down swelling. She told him how spinthistle roots ground into a powder could heal a wound faster than any other herb. Though he seemed more satisfied with drawing a tooth than her medicines, Rin sometimes suspected he found her information of more interest than he feigned.

This caused Rin's days to pass by with greater speed and before it seemed she could blink, her own stomach had grown out in a healthy, round fashion. As Rin grew, Kagome's body in turn reached and grasped for its 'due date', as she called it. Apparently the traditional Japanese robes were not comfortable during pregnancy – at least not for Kagome. She spent hours, when she was not doing her duties as a priestess, tossing and turning in her clothing and complaining all the while that she could never relax. She could often be heard commenting, "I wish I had my sweatpants and t-shirt" and when Rin asked what those were, Kagome would merely look forlornly out the window and demand that Inuyasha take her for a visit to her own time.

They, unfortunately, did not go to her time for many more months. Kaede served happily as midwife and Rin helped, reluctant but anxious for Kagome, and prayed reverently that the blood would not make her faint. Many times she had seen demons ripped apart at the hands of Sesshomaru, but they had been demon men intent on hurting them and not a woman desperately trying to bring her baby into the world. Somehow, in that situation, the blood disturbed her a great deal more.

It was only hours later that their son was born, a little quarter demon pup with faded grey hair that bordered on brown and magnificent hazel eyes. His little nails were defined claws, his tiny ears human and rounded at the tips, and Rin could catch a splash of pretty freckles on his little nose. She immediately adored him, knowing that even if his humanity was ugly in other demons' eyes, it made him vastly beautiful.

Kagome held him tightly to her chest, the fatigue on her face as prominent as the joy. She met Inuyasha's eyes. "Can we call him Soichiro?"

"I like it." He nodded, reaching a single finger gingerly down to stroke his new son's cheek, so softly that he looked afraid he might break the baby. "You're going to be a fighter someday, little guy."

Though she did not speak, Rin watched them looking at each other, unaware and uncaring towards the world's thoughts of their love. It was in these moments that Rin felt an unfamiliar sense of longing for what they possessed, and an unmistakable feeling of being alone.

Rin knew that she should not see herself as alone. She was welcomed there. For the first time in her life, she truly had friends, people who openly cared for her, women whom she could speak with and connect to. She also noticed that Sango's brother, Kohaku, had been sneaking her glances whenever they were in each other's company.

Kagome spoke of 'romance' and of 'home' when she spoke of humans, and told stories of her time as she soothed her baby to sleep. After wondering for years what their world would offer, Rin was finally with her own kind. She could hear their laughter, see their emotions on their faces, and, frankly, the first time she had seen Inuyasha eat human food had caused her to choke on her rice.

Somehow, though, seeing this truly happy family, she felt more lost than ever before.

It did not feel like 'home.'

* * *

Okay. This chapter did not turn out like I originally pictured it but it _turned out_. I guess that's all that counts.


	6. Chapter 6: Ishoyuki

Chapter six has been written! Yay! Screamsquealcheer!

Thanks again for all your reviews and asking (coughpesteringcough) for updates. Just kidding. I love you people.

You know what? You guys are all awesome. Go treat yourself to your favourite cookie or cake or whatever. You deserve it.

I don't own ANYTHING. (Sobsob)

* * *

Chapter Six

Ishoyuki

Kira poked at the fire in front of her with her finger, her eyes glazing over in deep contemplation as it bit at her flesh. The next moment, the burn had vanished as her demon body regenerated itself. Shaking out her hand, she coldly regarded the dog demon across from her. Honestly, she had told him months ago where Rin now lived and he had done nothing – _nothing_ – to bring her back. She was confused and, most of all, furious with him. Despite her years of knowing him, she could not grasp why he had let the human girl go. It was obvious he cared for her.

Even now, he thought of her.

Sesshomaru had been surprised when he returned and found Rin gone. Though, perhaps, he had not been as surprised as he had expected he would be. He had seen the way she had retracted from him when his anger had flared that night, had seen her sad smile when he left, and he had dismissed it. Jaken, after remarking that she was a foolish girl for practically throwing herself into the jaws of death, had suggested that they search for her.

All Sesshomaru had said in return was: "No."

No other words were expected. They would not search for Rin. And they kept true to that bargain.

Once, Sesshomaru had heard a familiar tune floating around the air, and after a short while, found that it had been Jaken unconsciously humming to himself Rin's tree song. The frog had turned seven levels of red after he had realized what he was doing.

They did not speak of her at all after that day. To them, it was as though she were dead, and Sesshomaru wished to keep it that way.

"It's been seven months, Sesshomaru." Kira pushed her wild hair out of her face. "You should go to her."

Sesshomaru's mouth twitched irritably at the mention of Rin. She was with humans, as she should be. She would be a great deal happier now. Her safety would also not be in jeopardy as it so frequently was when she had been travelling with him. With humans was where she belonged; he had been wrong to keep her away from them for so long.

To be away from her was a form of relief as well. She distracted, alarmed, and mystified him. With her gone, his life had once again become plain and ordered as it had been eight years ago. His world made sense to him. There was no confusion, no judgements on his hatred towards humans. As for the child, there were others who would agreeingly accept a half-demon into their household – Inuyasha, perhaps. Rin held a soft heart, but for the sake of her own blood, she would give it up to people more willing to care for it.

His yellow eyes focused on Kira and on the present. "I will not discuss this."

"I thought you were a strong demon, Sesshomaru. But to leave the woman carrying your child – oh yes, I know what you've done – to rot out there with those humans is weak and I would not see myself as a true friend to you unless I told you so." "The gods know that that stupid toad would never tell you what he's actually thinking."

Jaken, who was sitting a few feet away, grunted irritably at her comment. He smacked the end of his staff against the ground three times as though to punch out his frustration.

"Do not lecture me." Sesshomaru's face was stern, his hand on his knee slightly tense. "Leave me, Kira. You have much of your own in the way of troubles."

For a single moment, the fox looked angry enough to strike out, but that moment passed without confrontation. She sighed then, heavily, and said, "Yes. There's a demon coming from the North. He slaughters any who try to stop him – demon or not, he's not picky. For all our knowledge, we cannot discover who he is or what is his goal."

"My love," a voice said from behind them. They did not need to turn, for they had felt his presence before he had set foot into Sesshomaru's camp.

A smile broke across Kira's face as she stood, an uncommon display of affection for demons. Then again, Kira was not like most demon women. She was unafraid of showing her emotions for all to see, even revelled in them at times, and seemed almost human when she smiled.

Kira laid one hand on the shoulder of her beloved, Kei, her general and her mate. He blinked two searing red eyes uncertainly when he saw that his Lady was not alone. Sesshomaru caught a hint of a threat, of a warning that he stay away from the woman, from the male fox demon. Kei was an imposing enough figure, even taller than Sesshomaru and a great deal wider, muscles formed from years of hard labour, with a deep red beard covering his square face and long, tangled hair flowing down his back in a ponytail.

"Lady Kira," Kei began, choosing to address her more formally under the gaze of another. "The demon has begun to approach us. It is still North-bound but is deviating from its path and has become alarmingly close to us. May I suggest we withdraw from this region until it passes?"

"That is the act of a coward!" she hissed, her hand twisting although she had no sword. Kira paused, her fists clenching, and said finally, "But you are right, Kei. We cannot hope to fight this demon. We must run."

"Yes, My Lady. I will gather the tribe."

Kei was the first to fade into the brush around them, though his presence suggested that he had halted barely five feet away. The woman waited at the edge, not commenting to the quiet Jaken, hardly even breathing. Sesshomaru watched her back in mild curiosity, awaiting what she was to do.

"I would cease to exist without my mate," she said quietly. "How could you function without yours?"

Kira waited a second longer; if it was for his response, he did not know. She rolled her shoulders almost defiantly, cutting the dog demon, her friend, a rather disappointed, angry look.

"You are a fool, Sesshomaru," was all she said.

They vanished into the night, leaving Sesshomaru alone and to his brooding thoughts. Though his mind did not usually give way to wandering, it wandered all the same to his companions, Jaken and A-Un, and to the fox demons who were cutting through the forest now a mile away. They were indeed quick. They would have to be a great deal quicker if they planned to escape the path of this unknown demon.

These demons smelled of dead animals, of the blood of other demons, and of battles fought long ago. There were ashes in the air from the fire and the smell reminded him of the numerous battlefields he had experienced, overflowing with blood, and of the smell of burning corpses.

Rin smelled of flowers. No matter how many times she bathed or if she had trudged through the muck and mud of a swamp, she always held the scent of flowers.

He squirmed uncomfortably away from that particular thought and got to his feet. Standing, somehow, could clear his mind and make him feel powerful. So unlike how he truly felt now – weak, lost, and aching.

"Jaken, we are to head North."

"North, Lord Sesshomaru?" The vessel's head snapped up. "What is there that is North?"

He did not answer him. Nothing, that he knew of, was North except for the promise of forgetting and the slaying of a murderous demon. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to travel as far from Rin as his feet could possibly take him. She had been such a presence within his daily routine that Sesshomaru knew it was natural he would not easily forget her. However, he would do anything in his power to do so.

He would begin with going North.

* * *

While the sun rose hotly into the sky, Rin walked the fields outside of the village with Kohaku at her side. Seven months had passed and it was now summer. Seven entire months. Seven months and eight days since she had stumbled into Kagome and Inuyasha's home, nothing in her possession but what she had placed in her satchel, and was accepted wholeheartedly into their lives.

_Seven_ months.

Rin sometimes felt the need to repeat those two words to herself: seven months. It made the passage of time, the collection of days since she had discovered her pregnancy, more real. It kept her head, as well as her heart, firmly embedded in the ground, where it should be. This was not to say that she did not wonder about Sesshomaru. When it was late at night and the household was asleep, or when her child moved inside of her womb, she thought of him. She imagined what their child would look like, what he was doing at the very moment she was weeding the garden, and where he was.

Beside her, Kohaku cleared his throat and Rin jolted from her thoughts. She gave him an apologetic smile, sorry that she had been so caught up in her own world that she had ignored him. His hands were wringing out in front of him, looking almost scared. It was odd to see a demon-hunter so incredibly nervous and odder still for him to be afraid.

Taking her hands, Kohaku stepped in front of her, sweat trickling down his brow from the heat. He blurted out, "Marry me, Rin!"

If she had not been too surprised to move, Rin's jaw would have dropped. They had become friends over the last months. He had helped her often with her work although he had been told by Kaede that she must learn to survive on her own. When she carried wood back to the house, Kohaku was there to slip it from her arms. When she heaved water from the well, he pulled the buckets out of her hands.

Rin blushed, unsure if she was embarrassed for herself or for him. "Kohaku…"

"I'd make a good husband." He rushed to explain and his next words tumbled over each other: "And I'd take care of the baby, no matter whose baby it is. It would be my son or my daughter. I would stop demon-hunting too."

"Kohaku…I…"

Rin froze when Kohaku put his arms around her. His lips barely brushed hers before she could push him away. His cheeks flushed when his gaze met her eyes and he flinched. He whispered, "For a second I was sure you would say yes."

Immediately she felt a painful slicing at her heart knowing that she had hurt him. She opened her mouth to apologize, to provide some explanation as to why she had to refuse his offer, but she was quickly silenced. Suddenly, his body tensed and he pulled out his weapon, wielding it in the air.

"Rin," he hissed. "Get behind me. It's a demon!"

A bush moved and Rin caught the sight of a grey and black tale, of light coloured eyes, and she almost cried with happiness. There was only one demon she knew that looked like that and it was a demon girl who could find a single broken branch in a forest during a thunder storm.

"No, Kohaku! Wait!" Despite his surprised shouts, Rin sprinted across the field and held her arms out to the little demon raccoon she knew so well. "Mahako!"

"Miss R-Rin," the child huffed, and for a moment Rin wondered why her fingers were touching something wet.

"Mahako, you're bleeding!" Rin's fingers were sticky with blood; the sight sickening and foreboding. "We must get you to Kagome."

Mahako's hand came up and laid weakly on Rin's forearm. "No," she gasped. "Get away. They're after ya. Demons. Lots of 'em…led by some crazed man. They're comin' for ya. Gotta run, Rin. Ya…"

The child's voice faded away like the wind, her life slipping away from her beautiful grey eyes. No matter how Rin pressed her palms against the wound to stop the bleeding, no matter how she cried and prayed, the blood flowed out of the tiny body like water.

"Mahako! Mahako, _no_!"

There was a soft rustling of leaves and the girl died in Rin's arms.

Never again would the child's voice be heard echoing in a cave, or crying out to her about some little thing that caught her attention. Never again would she ask why the grass was green, how birds flew, her eyes shining with the beauty of the world. Rin's hands dug in the dirt, trying to wash away the blood, trying to dig a proper grave for her little friend.

Just in a fleeting second, Mahako was gone.

"Rin!"

Kohaku's frenzied shout had given her the push she needed. A hoard of demons had begun emerging from the trees, their mouths oozing saliva as they pictured the plump human flesh ahead of them. The young man was with her in a moment, and before she knew it, he was dragging her away from the oncoming attackers.

"Rin, run!" When she did not move, Kohaku pushed her shoulder harshly. "RUN!"

Nothing else needed to be said. Rin ran.

It was hopeless and she knew it. She was eight months pregnant and they were demons _–_ how far could she possibly run before they caught up with her? They were faster, albeit often less intelligent, but stronger than any human man or woman. But she had to run. She had to _try_.

When she fell, she picked herself up again. When the pain in her side worsened by leagues, she jabbed her fist against it and ran all the faster. All she could think of was the dead girl and pictured her baby's fate as the same and she pushed her legs to carry her just a bit more.

Just in the middle of a clearing of trees, she saw a flash of white. Briefly, she wondered in a fevered moment if it was Sesshomaru, but a closer look revealed that it was catlike demon with two tails. Pink-red eyes focused on the small woman and it opened its tusk-framed mouth to let out a happy roar.

"Kirara!" Relieved tears streamed down Rin's cheeks as she buried her face in the demon's fur. She composed herself as quickly as she could and straightened up. Rin glanced around the clearing in confusion. Where was Sango? What happened to Miroku?

And Kohaku. What had become of him?

A demon's yowl behind her snapped her back to herself. There was no time to worry. She had to act. Quickly but laboriously, Rin hauled herself up onto Kirara's back and leaned into the animal's ear.

"Kirara," she ordered, "take me to Kagome and Inuyasha! Quickly!"

The beast reared up and flew into the sky, leaving behind the pursuing demons that gnashed and bared their teeth at their escaping prey. This time Rin did not wipe the tears away as they fell, her arms aching to hold the little demon girl, knowing full well that the child would get no burial more than the trees sending their leaves down to her still body.

Her eyes widened when she saw the village aflame, demons scattered in the roads as they chased after poor humans who had been unlucky enough to catch their eyes. A flash of red dipped and swayed among the flames and Rin recognized it to be Inuyasha. He was clawing at demons, whisking humans from their jaws. The hot summer air was stifling with the fire's heat and its almost ordered chaos was interrupted by the clanging of Tetsuaiga against other blades.

Sango stood by the main house, not far off, protecting the children that most likely hid inside. Her husband, Miroku, was fighting with her, throwing talismans and reciting holy words. His right arm was in a sling, obviously strategically broken by a demon who had caught him off guard. Miroku would not be able to use his wind tunnel to trap anything in until it healed. Shippo was also with them. He was turning into one shape after another, no longer the slight little boy he had been eight years before. He stood like the older boy he was now, flinging his fists at demons that came close to them.

The three watched as Kirara landed a few feet from them, Sango calling for Kagome. Oddly enough, at seeing Rin on its back, the attacking demons ran from them and withdrew to an extremely far distance of the surrounding forest. Inuyasha took off after them, his feet flying in a blur. Curses and swear words flew from his mouth like air as he ran.

"Rin!" Kagome stumbled forward. She was covered in demon blood and a small wailing of her baby could be heard from where it was nestled in a sash around her body. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Good. Now take the children and leave." Kagome slipped her son into Rin's arms, her eyes shining with emotion. She had but a moment to prepare herself for giving him up and Rin could see the silent farewell on the woman's lips as she touched Soichiro's hair.

"No." Rin shook her head. "I'm not leaving."

"What?" The young priestess's face was disbelieving. "You have to leave! That's why we sent Kirara to find you!"

Rin ignored her. "Akio!"

When the boy popped up from inside the house, his other siblings followed him. Rin turned and placed the baby in his little arms, bending down to his level. "Go on Kirara with the children. Go find help. Anyone! But leave now!"

He nodded once and ran, the rest of the children following behind him in frightened silence. Miroku spared a moment that he could and loaded each child onto Kirara's back as quickly as he could manage with a broken arm. Kagome yanked Rin by the shoulder, forcing their eyes to meet.

"What are you doing?" she shouted. "Get on Kirara!"

"No. I can't. I'll slow them down. Kirara can't hold so many people. Without me, they'll go faster."

Kagome could not argue. If, without Rin, Kirara would go faster and it would ensure that her child escaped, then so be it. There was no other way.

A shadow came from the distance and everyone tensed, hands flying to talismans and swords, expecting the onslaught of the demon hoard once more. But it was limping and it smelled too much like human blood. This was no demon. Sango recognized him immediately. She shot out at a sprint, her black ponytail flying, and stopped just shy of crushing him in a hug when she saw he was wounded.

"Kohaku! Thank the gods you're safe!" She paused, her head tilting to the space beside him. "Who's this lady?"

For the first time, Rin noticed the elderly woman who was bracing the boy up by her shoulder. Her face was etched in wrinkles, looking like white leather. The kimono she wore was of the finest quality, deep red, and her obi of a beautiful plum colour. She did not stoop like the ladies who worked their lives in the fields; her skin was not tanned from years out in the sunlight. This woman was a noble.

"I don't know." Kohaku blinked as though he had only noticed her now himself. "She helped me."

"My name is Meiko. I've come here to warn you." The woman ran her hand through her straight grey hair and something that resembled tears glistened in her eyes. "My husband… Ishoyuki…he has come for the girl."

"Me?" Rin gasped. "Why?"

Meiko pointed a crooked finger to Rin's swollen stomach, her face grave. "It's a half-demon, yes?"

Miroku's face was suspicious. "How did you know that?"

"Ishoyuki married me when I was but fourteen," she began slowly. "When I gave birth to my first child, he devoured it. One after another, he ate all of our children shortly after they were born. He was a demon; I could not fight him off. And so I became pregnant over and over again, and over and over again Ishoyuki devoured them all."

"He…ate…them?" Shippo squeaked, his face turning an alarming shade of white.

"Yes. He had developed a taste for the flesh of half-demon children."

Shippo looked as though he was going to be vastly ill. The image did more than turn Rin's stomach – it frightened her. Her hands went over her stomach, praying to whatever god was listening that it bestow its divine protection upon them. If not, then grant her the strength to fight for her baby's life herself.

"Half-demon children?" Kagome spoke up, her usually cheerful voice sounding hoarse with worry. "Will Inuyasha be in danger?"

"Inuyasha?" The old woman tilted her head, confused.

"He's a half-demon too. My husband."

"Then he is a man and not a child. Ishoyuki will only eat young flesh." The old woman's eyes focused on Rin. "I have grown old. I can bare children no longer. But you…you are a young human girl and you will bare him many children if he so wishes."

Kagome's relieved breath was an obvious one. She frowned oddly, in thought. "Why specifically Rin, though? Is there some reason why he's after only her?"

"Kagome's right. She and I are both human women." Sango pointed absentmindedly at her own chest. "We should be targets too."

"Not all human women survive the pregnancy by a demon," Meiko pronounced sadly – how she had come to this specific knowledge, Rin was horrified to imagine. "It requires a large amount of strength and the situation to be right. He has heard and knows that this girl can successfully produce demon offspring." Her next words were daunting ones: "He will not rest for want of her."

* * *

(Okay. Done this one. Special shout-out to monique. gonzalez. 543 for your always cheerful reviews and demands for more updates. Thanks for the motivation, girl! You rock!)


	7. Chapter 7: Lord of the Western Lands

I've now got chapter seven up. (High-fives self) This one was a little easier to write than the last one. I have no clue why I struggled with chapter six so badly. That was a definite uphill battle.

The reason why this one's up so fast is because this was weirdly one of the first chapters I ever worked on. I'm posting it now so yay.

Read and review, guys. (If you do, I'll love you forever. No lie.)

Enjoy!

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Chapter Seven

Lord of the Western Lands

Kirara managed to carry the children a few miles away from the village before the weight and the fatigue finally brought her down. She had been fighting for hours, flying in search of Rin, and again fighting. She was panting heavily, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth, as she descended to a safe area. They were now at the base of a mountain where the forest spread up it and over the other side. It was still connected to the forest but far enough away that it would be troublesome for the demons to follow. Kirara would also hear as well as sense if they approached.

The children slid down from the cat demon's back shaking, each as terrified as the next. They huddled together like pups abandoned in the cold, their eyes watchful of everything around them. This had not been the first demon to attack, this was true, however it had not once been so desperate of times for them to be sent away. It was the fear for their parents' safety – not their own – that had the tears streaming down their cheeks.

Sesshomaru watched this all quietly from the path that cut through the mountains, close enough to the small humans that they would surely see him in a few moments. Why the female demon-hunter's pet had not sensed him, he did not know. Perhaps it had and was simply too weary to respond. Or perhaps its exhaustion was the cause of it not sensing him.

He kept his place on the path. Jaken had scoured the forest for his staff he had accidentally dropped. Sesshomaru waited out of curiosity, not out of concern, for the children to begin their shaky way up the mountain. They did so slowly, some whimpering pitifully to their siblings, others as silent as corpses, and they staggered up the path as quickly as to be expected on such short limbs.

"Lookit!" one spoke up, voice quivering. "There's someone there."

Their childish faces were turned up to him in mutual amazement. They looked at his long, silky white hair that flowed down his back like water. They studied his uncanny features that were clearly far from human, taking in his single arm and striped face. Never had they seen someone so beautiful, the only flaw his missing left arm.

"It's that man!" a little girl whispered in awe. She tapped her brother on the arm. "Ya know. The one Rin talks about all the time."

Sesshomaru's heart moved inside his chest. Rin spoke of him. _Often._

"You're Lord Sesshomaru!" Akio gasped. His eyes widened when the demon began turning away from them. "Please, Lord Sesshomaru, don't go! Please help us. Inuyasha's injured and Mama can't fend 'em all off and Papa's hurt and Rin's gonna have a baby and she can't fight and they'll kill her for sure!"

Sesshomaru was no longer listening. If he had been truly paying attention, the demon would have heard all of what the boy said. His mind only focused on the words _Rin _and _kill_ and the panic that overwhelmed him when he heard them.

Fluidly, he slipped his fur off of his shoulder and shoved it into the little boy's hands. "You!" he barked, sounding panicked even to his own ears. He fought to keep his voice level. "Take this and show it to a frog demon named Jaken a mile up this path. He will lead you to a safe place."

And then Sesshomaru left the children behind, his feet barely touching the ground with each of his powerful leaps. The forest could not hold against his charging body, nor could the branches on the trees or the rivers in the ground prevent him from returning to her.

_Rin. _

_Rin_.

Her name was a constant thought in his mind, blending together until it was all he could think of. _Rin._

She was in danger? The reason he had let her stay in that human village was because of Inuyasha and his priestess wife, as well as the protection the demon-hunters could offer. She was supposed to be safe there. And now she had been put in danger by Inuyasha's carelessness.

In a few frenzied moments, he arrived at the village where Inuyasha lived. Immediately he could sense the demons that surrounded the area, though the smell of their blood was decidedly stronger. They were not attacking. Why? Why would they wait? What was the purpose?

He had no time to consider this, for there was another smell that took his breath away. One he recognized. Forgetting the other, second-rate demons completely, he felt his feet automatically leading him towards her scent _–_ _Rin's _scent.

He longed to hold her, to feel her skin on his, to have her arms around him as they sat in front of the fire in their cave in the forest. He had not longed for anything, not truly, in his lifetime. One single female had him imagining the way his life had been and yearning for it to be that way again.

As he neared the middle of the village, a feeling he was forced to identify as relief slowed his run to a walk. Rin was speaking to the group of humans, her hands flinging around with a passion he had not seen her practice before. His half-brother, Inuyasha, put his clawed hand on Rin's shoulder and pointed a finger behind them, at Sesshomaru himself. That was when a boy dressed in demon-hunting clothing stepped in front of her.

Rin turned and the frustration with Inuyasha was replaced with anger for another.

Sesshomaru ceased his advance, an unpleasant heat spreading underneath his skin. He saw Rin's swollen stomach. He knew that she would not have kept the child and he knew that there was an unknown boy standing protectively in front of her. A rage unlike any other he had experienced coursed through his body and his eyes flashed red.

Another man had touched his mate.

One heartbeat later, he had his fingers around the boy's throat. He had not been able to stop himself and he found he did not wish to. A delight he had never felt made his lips quirk up. He had not felt this pure satisfaction even when his enemies were dead at his feet. This close to the boy, the demon could see his features: a strong jaw, defiant, angry brown eyes, a splash of freckles that Sesshomaru recognized. It was barely a man's face. He had to be no more than eighteen, hardly a threat.

And yet he could not help but wonder the relationship between Rin and the human male. Had she touched this face? Had she tasted these lips? Images of her in another's arms fed into his fury and kindled it like a flame; his hand squeezed tighter.

Inuyasha was at his brother's side, the tip of Tetsuaiga a clear threat near Sesshomaru's cheek. "Quit it, Sesshomaru!"

The demon ignored him even when the blade nipped into his skin and a bead of blood slid down to his chin. Kohaku flicked out his sickle-shaped weapon, feeling it in his palm to make sure it would be there when it was needed.

"Kohaku, stop!" Sango cried and was stopped from interfering by Miroku's shake of his head. She was more worried for his safety than in him possibly hurting the demon lord.

Kohaku did not flail. He did not beg for his life or to be spared. He simply fixed the demon with a furious glare and spat, "You abandoned her!"

There was a silence as they waited for a reaction.

Sesshomaru almost laughed cruelly in the boy's face. _He _had abandoned _her?_ She had been the one to leave. It had been _her_ decision, not his. Kohaku knew not the hole that had formed in his heart over these months of separation. There was not an hour of the day that he did not long for her, and then be disgusted by that feeling, and long for her again. Each morning he woke to expect her beside him, her lashes flickering while she slept, only to recall that she was no longer there.

"You know nothing," he snarled.

They knew nothing _–_ not this man-child and not Kira. They spoke as though they had lived his life, had suffered his pains, and lived inside of his skin. They berated him and lectured him like he was a child. Kira had simply been caring for her friend. However, Kohaku was defending Rin for reasons unknown. Were they already wed? Rin had been here, tainted by human ideals, for seven months _–_ more than enough time to marry. More than enough time to have taken Rin and had her bare his child.

Again, his fingers tightened.

"I said stop!" Inuyasha bellowed. "Stop or I'll take your other arm off!"

A small hand wrapped around Sesshomaru's wrist and yanked hard enough to jolt him. Kohaku fell from his grip, coughing, and grimaced as he touched a bandage on his leg. Sesshomaru turned, honestly a little surprised that it was his brother's wife who was glaring at him as though _she_ were the one who was a handbreadth away from hitting him.

"This isn't the time!" Kagome barked. At that instant, she sounded every bit the mother and adult woman she had grown into. Her hands on her hips, she said, "Sort your issues out later, guys."

"She's right," Kohaku admitted, choosing to back down. "We have to –"

He was interrupted by a cry so pained and confused at the same moment that they were bewildered. Inuyasha pulled out Tetsuaiga, prepared for one of the demons to attack, and Miroku did the same, reaching for his talismans. Shippo simply stared up at the sky as if looking for a bird. Only Kagome and Sango knew what that noise was, as they had made the same exact sound before, and their concerned eyes fell on Rin, who was doubled over beside them.

"Sesshomaru!" Rin screeched, clutching her stomach. She grabbed his sleeve with her free hand and tugged hard, in too much pain to care how he would react to grabbing him and not calling him by his proper title. "The baby's coming!"

They all turned to stare at her, each wearing the expression of shocked disbelief. Even Sesshomaru had been rendered quite immobile by this turn of events. Their thoughts were on the demons, on the threat that encircled their village, waiting to attack, and they knew those demons would not wait much longer.

Inuyasha threw his hands up into the air. "You _have_ to be kidding me!"

One painful moan and they all knew that this was no cruel joke, no sick prank. It was time. Merely the thought, the idea, had the men frozen, knowing full well that they should be doing something but were at a loss as to what. Sango was the first to move, grabbing Kagome rather roughly by the arm. She could spare no time towards people's feelings, not with a baby on its way. She would deliver the child herself if she set her mind to it _–_ having birthed so many of her own children _–_ but she was aware how much more use she served as a fighter than a midwife.

"Kagome, take her inside!" she commanded. Then she pointed at her husband. "Miroku" _–_ she then pointed to Rin _–_ "help her!"

Her husband looked uneasily at the surrounding forest. "But _–_"

"You have one arm, Miroku," Kagome reminded him in her strictest tone. "You're not exactly essential to the fight right now and I can't carry her myself!"

Rin groaned once more and Sesshomaru made a frustrated noise at the back of his throat. There was no time for this foolishness. He faced Rin, moving to acquire her attention.

"Put your arms around my neck," he said sternly. Surprised but ever obedient, Rin did exactly as he ordered. Lifting her, he placed his hand under her knees and pulled her up to his chest. Without another word, he spun around and walked steadily into the little house.

He moved so fast that Kagome had to run to catch up with him. Sesshomaru did not check over his shoulder, however he did pause for a split second to make sure she was following him before he resumed his brisk pace.

They went into the house and Kagome busied herself by grabbing her medical box, a few clean sheets and her pair of scissors Shippo had always found interesting. She stopped, her eyes falling on her bow. Slinging it over her shoulder, along with her quiver full of arrows, she scurried back into the main part of the house.

"Meiko!" she called as she went. "Meiko, it's time!"

An old woman appeared from behind a sliding door, a roll of more sheets already in her arms. A bucket was at her feet, ready to be filled and heated. Her eyes were wide with controlled alarm, her long grey hair tied back, and her silk kimono sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

"Your baby has chosen an inopportune time to be born," she told Rin. An amused expression crossed her wrinkled face, replaced a second later by a distressed frown. "Ishoyuki has held off his followers, waiting for this moment. He will strike now."

There were no comments made towards this.

"Sesshomaru, take her into the bedroom. There's no windows there and we'll be able to guard the door easily." Kagome watched silently as Sesshomaru stepped into the room she had ushered them into and sat Rin down on the futon. "Okay. You can go now. Thanks." Bending down, Kagome snapped open her medical box to see if she had anything that would assist a birth. Suddenly, she realized the demon had not moved. "Well?" she said, a little impatiently. "Go."

"I will stay." It was not an observation; it was an order.

Meiko's face became unusually hostile. "You will certainly not!"

"You can stay."

"Kagome!" The old woman hissed, her hands coming up as though to heave the demon lord out by her own power. She was too weak, such was obvious, to do so and Sesshomaru stared solidly back at her, his eyes daring her to try.

Kagome looked a little shocked. Who could have suspected the Lord of the Western Lands to display defiance over such a thing? But, on the other hand, she had no time to wonder at this oddity. She quickly turned to the young woman on the futon. Her hands went over the girl's. "Rin."

At the sound of her name, Rin's closed eyes blinked open. "It hurts."

"I know it hurts, Rin, but you have to listen to me." Kagome took a sheet from Meiko and began to work on shredding it into pieces to lay upon her head when the labour grew worse. "Now lie down."

Rin did as she said and dropped down. The futon was too small for her to truly lie down, but she did what she could, folding her legs up and pressing her feet against the floor. Her position made a sharp ache shoot up her spine. She tried to ignore it, tried to focus on Kagome's voice.

"And when I say push, you push."

"They're going to hurt my baby." Rin's voice portrayed her sadness and her fears. Yet, behind those feelings, there was an anguished acceptance of what was to come.

Sesshomaru frowned, anger rising in a wave in his throat. This was not the Rin from his memories. Where had she gone? This woman lying beside him was helpless and exposed. She had always been weak _–_ such was the curse of all humans. He knew, however, since the time she had smiled at his rejecting words when she was eight years old that there was a strength inside her. Now she was tired, her hair pasted to her forehead with her sweat, her body shaking with the pains that came in sequence. Rin seemed more human, more fragile, than ever.

Kagome's heart stung at the girl's tone. "Rin, we're right here."

"Nothing will happen to you," Meiko encouraged, though her years of experience with impossibility had caused her to believe otherwise. She did not tell this to Rin.

"And my baby?" The question was so filled with new hope that Sesshomaru's hand circled around her wrist. A moment later he wondered why he done this, but he left it there.

Kagome looked at her, shoulders sinking as she drew a little into herself. The priestess's eyes were grave with a weight of a thousand worries.

"I'll do what I can," she said. "I promise."

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monique. gonzalez. 543 you're still slaying me with your super awesome reviews. Keep them coming!

You got to see a whole whack of jealous Sesshomaru in this one. I've read many fanfics for Sess/Rin, but I've not often seen Sesshomaru blatantly upset that someone shows Rin some attention. I think Sesshy would oddly be a very jealous type.

(Note: This is NOT the last chapter, peeps. There's still one more and an epilogue I need to write, but we're nearing the end of our short journey. I hope you all stay with me until we're there.)


	8. Chapter 8: Death and Life

Hi all. I'm back again? Wow. That was fast. This chapter was actually part of the last chapter, but it was becoming way too long and so I cut it into two separate parts. Which is why I was able to post it right after the last one.

Enjoy, you wonderful people.

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Chapter Eight

Death and Life

Every part of her was burning _–_ her fingers, her toes, her stomach, her heart. It seemed as though fire had trickled underneath her skin and was burning her insides. The fire worked its way into her muscles and bones, biting at her until she was blazing everywhere. Rin had seen birth, had felt the pain sitting in the air like fog, but she had never imagined that it could be this way. She understood now how much Kagome and Sango had sacrificed to give their children life.

Yet the pains had started again and she could no longer think.

Rin wanted to reach out, to scream for someone to help her, but her arms would not move when summoned and her voice died in her throat. She was in pain. Great, immense pain as though there was too much of it for her body to possibly hold. When Rin found her voice, she screeched out for someone. She called for Jaken and Kagome to appear and take this pain away. She found herself calling Sesshomaru's name more often than any other's. Rin shouted for him, begged for him, pleaded for him.

"Please," Rin gasped. Her hand grabbed onto something and her fingers squeezed around it in desperation. "Please, protect my baby."

The great demon stood stoically over her. His face was impassive, yet inside he was feeling unusually perplexed. The events over the last few months had left him unsettled. And now, watching Rin's pain-wracked body, her small, frail human hands clutching onto his sleeve, caused an odd stirring in him.

It was simply the thrill of danger from an unknown demon, he reasoned.

"Okay, Rin." Kagome smiled encouragingly. "Now push!"

Rin nodded; her grip on Sesshomaru's sleeve tightened. A power she was unaware she possessed pulsed through her. Her body knew without question that the baby was to come and she could only help the progression, not halt it. She met Sesshomaru's eyes during her frenzy and though his face was much the same as the first day she saw him, there was a dishevelled look to his body. She realized he was wishing nothing more than for her to deliver this baby safely. She would bring it into the world. Rin could endure anything.

With one final heave, the baby slid out of her.

Rin was not so dim or uneducated that she did not immediately know something was wrong. Terribly wrong. There was a quiet in the air that simply should not be after the birthing of a baby. Out of all the babes she had helped deliver herself, almost each and every one of them had screamed themselves scarlet when they had escaped into the world. It was rare, but not too rare, that there were some who were born dead, taken before their time by the gods or by some cruelty of fate. When they were delivered dead, they had a certain eerie silence to them as though Death stood in the shadows of the room. Rin's own baby had that unnerving silence that landed on her heart as a crushing blow.

Kagome bent down without a word, her eyes on the baby at all times. She turned it in her arms, and landed a thudding smack right between its shoulders. They waited in anxious silence, Sesshomaru's fist clenching in. When the room remained deathly silent, Kagome repeated her action again and again, allowing a few short seconds to go by before she smacked it another time. Rin was shaking and aching everywhere, however, despite her pain, all she could focus on was the baby's patch of brown hair.

Suddenly, the baby made a guttural noise from the back of its throat and a flow of liquid spewed out of its mouth. Then it began to cry.

"It's a girl," Kagome announced, sounding strained but happy.

She had tanned skin and hair as dark brown and thick as her mother's, one blood-red stripe on each side of her face and bright ember eyes. Upon closer inspection, Sesshomaru was pleased to see two perfectly pointed ears hiding beneath her dark thatch of hair.

A perfect mixture of demon and human.

It was his child.

His suspicions that it was Kohaku's offspring faded. He allowed himself a second, one mere moment, to marvel at the tiny, squirming creature in her arms. Why had Rin not given up the child? Why had she kept it? There was a strange warmth flooding inside him while he struggled to understand the inner workings of this complex young woman.

After Kagome had fast cleaned it with a cloth and water, Rin could not reach for her child fast enough. With her daughter cradled against her breast, she could feel the baby's breathing and the heat of her small body. Rin could now know with all her being that the baby was alive, real, and the most perfect thing she had set her eyes upon in her life. Though only a few minutes old, her daughter watched her with an odd intelligence that she had seen on Sesshomaru and his brother. Rin looked at her baby as she cooed, immediately knowing what she should be named.

Before Rin could speak to Sesshomaru and tell him the wonderful, perfect name on her lips, his head swivelled around contemplatively, listening to the air. As swift as a breath, Bakusaiga was in his hand.

"He is here," he announced and the three words spoke of the calamity outside.

Sounds of sword-fighting and incantations being muttered floated into the isolated room. Something crashed against the side of the house, splintered the wood and ripped a hole as wide as a body. A person groaned, though the three could not decipher who it was, and then came the sound of footsteps scraping on rock. Meiko was nowhere to be found.

"We have to get Rin and the baby out of here!" Kagome screeched at Sesshomaru, all intention of being quiet and composed gone. This was no time to be composed. She spun around to the girl. "Rin, you're going to have to stand." She did not ask if she _could_ stand, but simply stated that she _must_ stand. "No, no. Hold onto your baby. Here, take my sash…"

Somehow she stood. Somehow she found the strength to move. As Kagome wrapped the baby girl in the sash, carefully, as if she were her own, Rin leaned her weight on Sesshomaru and he almost shuddered at how small she seemed to be.

"Why have these demons attacked you?" he asked.

Kagome glanced up from her tying and said, "They're led by a demon called Ishoyuki. He's after Rin."

Suddenly what the old woman had said earlier that day made a vague sense to him: _Ishoyuki has held off his followers, waiting for this moment. He will strike now_. Still, he was at a loss as to why this demon would be demonstrating such force for a single human.

"For what purpose?"

"He eats half-demon children."

The words chilled his heart. He had heard stories of such demons that took human women as wives only to use them as food sources. Supposedly, the flesh of the offspring between a human and demon was so tantalizing, so delectable, that it drove a demon mad if they were to consume it. This demon would stop at nothing to have what it desired and Sesshomaru knew that something had to be done. Carrying her himself would not be wise. He was barely informed along the lines of human birth. He understood, though, that Rin would be damaged.

"I can run," she gasped in his ear.

A fast nod of his head was his affirmation. She would have to go on alone. He would join her when he could; for now, he would stand against Ishoyuki.

"Go," he told her.

She ignored Kagome's protests. She ignored the fear inside of her. She ignored everything.

Rin took off at a sprint and was surrounded by trees in a matter of moments. Moonlight was shining above yet she was bathed in the darkness of leaves and branches. She remembered once when she had lost Sesshomaru and Jaken in a snowstorm while they were in the mountains – she remembered the cold and the panic and blinding darkness of the storm. After she had spent an hour of puzzled wandering, Sesshomaru had found her, given her his fur, and berated her for getting lost.

She prayed that he would be here for her now.

When she stumbled once more on a fallen log, Rin cursed her humanity for the first time. She had been trapped in a similar situation only hours ago - it had felt like a lifetime. Kohaku had sent her away while he had taken a stand so she could flee for she was not strong enough to fight. As far as she could push her memory, she had not wanted to be anything more than human. Jaken described her as he did all mortals: weak, emotional, flawed. Her humanity had practically defined her. Now she wished painfully that she were a demon, strong and fast.

Her thoughts were then with the village and the people who had befriended her. She pictured each of them - Kohaku, Miroku, Sango, Kagome, Inuyasha – and prayed that they would survive. She had lost so much in her life that she could not afford to lose them. They were not only friends or guardians, they had become her family. Rin wished for them to be safe. She hoped the gods' wing of blessing extended over them.

Something reached out and grabbed her, knocking her over, and she landed hard against the ground on her back. Her head spun with the collision, the jolt punching the air from her lungs. Rin sat up, her hand on her newborn baby, and froze.

In front of her stood the demon Ishoyuki.

He was indeed beautiful – perhaps more so than Sesshomaru. His face was strong and regal, his skin porcelain white. Golden hair as bright as sunlight floated airily around his face, gentle and lovely, and Rin could almost reason why a woman would marry such a man. He had a power about him that made her thoughts hazy and entreated her feet to go to him.

His eyes, however, were cruel and hard, with no more warmth or soul to them than two shards of blue glass. There was no smile on his face but a long scowl across his perfected lips.

When he spoke, his voice was sharp and precise: "I have found you at last."

Rin's scream was so terrified, so heartbroken, that it caused Ishoyuki to take an unwilling step back. He then shook his head and leapt out at her, his hands wrapping around her arms.

"CEASE THIS AT ONCE!" he bellowed, shaking her until she could no longer think and her eyes glazed.

"No," she said shakily. Tears dripped from her eyes onto her daughter's hair. "No, please. Please don't hurt my baby. I beg of you. I will give you my life, but please don't harm her."

"I see my spells do not work on you." A smile worked up his face despite his words, the grin crazed and wicked. "No matter. You will become my wife and you will feed my hunger for centuries!"

A ferocious snarl broke out into the night, a giant paw swatting Ishoyuki aside as though he were a rag doll. Sesshomaru's human-like form had vanished and in its place stood a towering dog demon missing its left front leg, his lips curling up viciously in a growl. Ishoyuki's handsome exterior had also melted away, showing not his beautiful face, but a portly one rimmed with ugly green scales. His mouth opened to reveal thousands of fangs as sharp as knives and when he smiled, it stretched from ear to ear.

Sesshomaru moved, barrelling headfirst into the other demon's massive body, his jaw snapping and biting at any limb or piece of flesh his teeth could sink into. Ishoyuki let out a frustrated growl. No matter where he struck, the dog demon was there to block his way to Rin.

While Sesshomaru grappled with Ishoyuki on the ground, Rin made to run but was met with the rocky resistance of a tall cliff. She was now trapped between two fighting demons and panic choked at her insides. Ensnared, she pressed her back against the mountainside, a rock jutting into her shoulder as she watched the struggle unfold in front of her. Sesshomaru was wielding Bakusaiga, now once more clothed in his human form, striking out in blinding, cutting movements. Ishoyuki deflected each strike and managed to steal the sword when a blast of red demonic energy caused Sesshomaru to drop it.

That was when Ishoyuki heaved the sword heavily and drew its tip across the demon lord's skin. He managed to evade the strike a little, but Ishoyuki had possessed the element of surprise and had made a clean cut that clearly hit him. The blade slid into his side. Ishoyuki pulled it out slowly, the other demon's flesh making a sucking sound as the blade slipped out. An alarming amount of blood was on his face but it was not his own.

Sesshomaru knocked the sword from Ishoyuki's hand, flinching with even that simple action. A dark pool of red began spreading across his side, staining his white clothes with his blood. The red pooled down his leg to soak his shoes and streams of it, mixed with rain, dripped from Bakusaiga to the ground. Rin was paralyzed by this sight and sunk down when her knees went weak.

Despite his wound, Sesshomaru dived for the sword that had fallen in the tussle. Ishoyuki saw it at the same time as he did and realized what he had planned. They stared at each other in an electrical, tense silence, both either too injured or too stunned to make the first move. Sesshomaru took the opportunity to reach for the sword, stretching and crawling to finally get to it. His clawed fingers just closed around the hilt as Ishoyuki leapt forward. He jumped on the dog demon and they began their own fight, but unlike the last attack, where their goals had been to maim, they were aiming for the only weapon they possessed: Bakusaiga.

After a few minutes of trying to twist him off, Ishoyuki grew tired of this tug-of-war. He saw his chance, a break in the other's defences, and he swung his arm and cracked the dog demon across the jaw with his fist, a powerful red glow burning from his fingertips. Grunting in pain, Sesshomaru landed on the ground with a definite thud. Bakusaiga careened to a stop many feet from his reach and, to Rin's horror, he did not move to pick it up.

Rin got to her feet, gasping for air she could not seem to find, and lunged for the fallen sword. Long fingers gripped her arm like death and she spun around. Ishoyuki wrenched Bakusaiga out of her grip and tossed it far over his shoulder. His face loomed close to her and he smiled triumphantly, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

_Thwack._

Ishoyuki stared at his stomach, looking blankly at the purifying arrow sticking grotesquely out of him. He was confused as to where it had come from. The girl? No, no. She was too obviously human – she was no priestess. Besides, she was holding that child so close, she did not have the hands to wield a bow. The dog demon? No. Not him, either. He was still reeling from the wound on his side. So where had it come from?

It was that moment, that second of bewildered hesitation, which wrote out his fate.

Rin reached upward, grabbing the shaft of the arrow, and yanked it down with all her might, splitting Ishoyuki's giant stomach open. From the cut spewed, not blood, but dozens of glowing white circles that floated sluggishly through the air. Then, in a blink, they morphed into little creatures with stick arms and legs, bulging eyes and stringy, greasy hair. From their mouths dripped a brackish liquid, spewing without end, as they began crawling around the demon's feet.

A giant tear split the ground in two and a sucking wind pulled in leaves, dead grass, and an unsuspecting mouse running by. Rin's scream was lost in the air as she wiggled backward as fast as she could, the fear of having herself and her child sucked into the crack urging her on. She cried and crawled, tears streaming down her face from the pain, and still she relentlessly went on.

Something then slid around her waist and tugged her backward, her dry throat only allowing her to squeak in protest as she fell. Her cheek brushed against something soft, a thing so white and pure it looked like snow. Through the confusion, she knew exactly who held her.

Somehow, Sesshomaru had dragged himself over to a tree and had tied his body to it with his sash, and so his one arm was free to catch up Rin and their child protectively to his chest. He could feel the pull of the tear in the earth and the sash strained against him. It bit mercilessly into the wound in his side but he pushed back his agony and simply tightened his grip around Rin's shoulders.

They both looked back to the scene in front of them, no longer a part of the flow of events, but observers. Rin's eyes burned and her body protested in pain, and yet she could not look away. She watched, dazed, as the sickly creatures fell one by one down the crack, their bodies partially moulding together so that they still held some of their grotesque forms. Their ghostly hands stretched towards Ishoyuki, their thin fingers wrapping around his ankles and wrists, pulling him in.

"Come with us," they called in eerie, scratching voices. "Come with us, Father."

Rin looked then to Ishoyuki, and found in his eyes not the bloodlust he once had, but black pits of stagnant, vicious fear. He struck out blindly at whatever he could see, but he was challenging powers far stronger than his own. His fists passed through the creatures and his kicks struck air.

He sank down further still.

"Help me!" he called out, thrashing around in the grips of the dead children. From the edge of the forest his eyes met the old, wise ones of his wife, and a glimmer of desperate hope sprung into his face. Reaching out his hand, Ishoyuki shouted, "My love, save me!"

She did not listen to his pleas. Though she stood so close to the crack, the wind did not pull her in, but looked to be no more than a gentle breeze that shifted her grey hair. For a moment, in Rin's eyes, Meiko's old form seemed to fade and she became a young, raven-haired beauty with soulful deep green eyes. The years had melted from her face, as well as the strife and hardships, and she was once more an innocent fifteen-year-old young woman.

And then Rin blinked, and the image was gone.

Meiko regarded Ishoyuki with the level certainty of an executioner: without feeling and without compassion. "Your journey is over. You will be hungry no longer." And then, quietly, she added, "_My love_."

As the words fell from her lips, the hope in Ishoyuki's eyes died. Rage grew in its place and he tried to lunge forward, however the ghostly creatures wrapped their arms around his chest and his legs, preventing him from moving. Yanking and coaxing in their chilling, childlike voices, a fiery heat sprung from the pit and loud moaning and ungodly cries could be heard from the very darkest depths. With a single sickening jerk, the demon sunk down into the fires, the crack healing the earth shut, and the last of Ishoyuki to be heard was his one hollow, helpless scream.

The child in Rin's arms ceased her crying instantly and the world around them fell silent. No bird sang, no animal moved, and the forest held its breath. Slowly and wincing, Sesshomaru let go of Rin in order to untie himself from the tree that had saved their lives. Above them, on a ledge no one had noticed until that moment, Inuyasha leapt down, Kagome in his arms. He breathed a long sigh of relief. Miroku, Kohaku, and Sango rushed out from the protection of a boulder, Kohaku limping, and they froze in the clearing.

They all exchanged uncertain looks, glancing at the area where there had been a tear in the dirt only a moment ago. They had followed Sesshomaru in hopes of being of some help, but had drawn back for cover so as not to be pulled into the pit themselves.

"Is it…?" Inuyasha began, then fell short. Kagome's hand slid into his and the four parents sighed tiredly but their faces glowed with delight knowing that their children would be able to return to them.

"It is over," Meiko whispered, looking to the sky above her.

From across the way, Sesshomaru stared down at the human woman at his side. He reached for her and Rin held onto him and their child as though they were her life.

* * *

(Note: I'm perfectly aware that Sesshomaru owns two swords, not just one, but Tenseiga is kinda useless in a giant fight like this, so it made more sense to write about Bakusaiga.)

The epilogue is coming up, people. Keep your eyeballs open for it, because it's sort of important even if it's an epilogue.


	9. Epilogue: Hana

This is it. Those daunting words: The End.

Thank you to each and every one of you who reviewed or simply read this. I seriously hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I've owned nothing at all since the beginning. Still don't.

* * *

Epilogue

Hana

They all made their way back to the village, some supporting the injured ones and Meiko walking stiffly behind them, seeming to Rin extremely aimless now that she was finally released from her bond to Ishoyuki. Sesshomaru carried Rin and she carried their child even though his wound slowed him down a great deal.

Kira and her tribe were waiting for them when they returned. They had come from the familiar arms of the forest, Kira ever the proud warrior who could not bare to flee a fight for long, and had fought off as many attackers as they could to help the humans. Her men stood around her, some injured and some wiping blood from their claws and blades. Whatever demons that did not lay dead and in sickening pieces around them had fled into the forest, lost now without the guidance of Ishoyuki.

When Jaken brought the children, him looking quite overwhelmed by the squealing creatures, and saw the ember-eyed baby in Rin's arms, he fainted. They revived him and after he was seated, Rin explained in a gentle, embarrassed tone what had transpired. She told him the secrets she had kept to herself for so long.

Once she was done, he fainted again.

Sesshomaru was pestered by Sango and Kagome to remain at their home for the first day. Inuyasha had thrown such a drastic fit over this, spouting that he would not have _that man_ near Akio, that Sesshomaru felt almost inclined to stay, if only to frustrate his insipid half-brother. This decision had made Inuyasha grow three shades of red, but he had calmed after a rather long, rather loud, discussion with his wife.

As Sesshomaru wandered through the house, his feet echoing on the wooden floors, he would catch Rin casting him anxious glances, a question seemingly on her tongue, but then Kagome would demand her attention to crush herbs and so she said nothing. She had many things to ask of him. How she would ask, or where she would make the time, she did not know.

Rin knew that Sesshomaru would leave. Once he fully healed and Kagome no longer had an excuse to keep him there, he would resume his travelling with Jaken and A-Un. He would go North, she supposed, or home to the Western Lands.

Perhaps she could keep him there? Perhaps she could persuade him to stay?

Rin discovered once while she was staring at Sesshomaru standing ascetically near the well that she was hoping for something entirely selfish. She could no more hold back Sesshomaru than she could halt a rainstorm or the coming tide.

His healing abilities granted to him by his demon blood kept the wound from worsening. Under Kagome's careful _–_ albeit persistent _–_ care, he pressed poultices against his side to speed his recovery. After the third day, he resumed his place in the cave in the forest. Kagome had insisted he stay close to the village in order for her to change his bandages. She pestered him to the point of aggravation. Since he would not waste the strength it would take to kill her, he allowed her to change his bandages and fuss over him. Those days required all his patience.

Rin would also change his bindings at times, but those moments were always uncomfortable and she would watch him uncertainly from underneath her eyelashes.

She almost prayed that he would not heal so that he would remain with her and then she felt so ashamed of asking the gods for such a thing. If he did not heal, he would die. She knew she could not bare it if he died _–_ Rin would rather he live far away than die at her side. She also knew the dangers of prayer and hurried away, lest her thoughts give way to substance in front of her eyes.

A week then went by, the days overrun with bloodied cloths, aching limbs and frenzied women attempting to do hundreds of tasks at once. Kaede had joined them, doing what she could with the years of knowledge she had. Kohaku was on his feet as soon as he was able, though he would need the help of a walking staff until his limp vanished. He remarked that he would be demon-hunting in no time at all, to which Sango had given him such a fierce look that he had chosen to give himself a few more days.

Meiko had not stayed, despite the insistences that she was welcome. Once Kira's men left, the old woman had gone with them. Kira had gone with a smile and her hand on the arm of a scarred demon Rin did not recognize. Meiko had merely offered the most graceful bow any of them had ever witnessed before disappearing over the horizon.

"She's free," was all Inuyasha had said.

Outside, the moon was rising. Rin was in her own room that Kagome had insisted she take now that there was one more child in the house. "You deserve privacy," she had said, which Rin did not truly understand but was certainly not going to reject. There was an exhaustion in her bones that only came from long hours of work without rest, and even now that she could sleep, she was doing anything but.

Lying on her futon with her baby next to her, she ran her fingers through her child's hair, grinning when the infant giggled in its sleep.

During these moments, she thought of Mahako. She had been long dead by the time they managed to find her outside of that field; Tenseiga could no longer help her. With that knowledge, Rin had cried wretchedly into the raccoon's body until Sango had been forced to pull her away.

Miroku, despite still recovering from his broken arm, had followed Rin and buried the little girl. For once, he had not remarked on Rin's beauty or demonstrated any lascivious behaviour. That day he had been silent. That had been Mahako's funeral; it may not have been a proper burial, for they did not know the rituals of a demon's passing. However, Rin chose to believe that Mahako was happy.

Rin heard the screen to her room slide open and she spun around, expecting to see Kagome or Sango checking in on the new mother. To her surprise, it was Inuyasha's figure that was illuminated in the half-lit room. Stepping in, he closed the screen behind him and stood awkwardly in the middle of her room. He squirmed around uncomfortably, tweaking his long red sleeve as she waited for him to speak.

Suddenly, he was talking and the words spilled out over top of each other.

"Did my brother every bite you...during...uh..." Inuyasha could barely choke out the words. A deep blush had trickled underneath the bronze skin in his cheeks. Frustrated, he sat down roughly, his face turned away from her. "Look, did he bite you? Ever? Like on the neck?"

"He did." She tugged at the collar of her kimono and pulled it aside only enough to show him the faint scar. His face was scarlet and he was not looking at her. "Once," she said. "Before I came here."

"Yeah, I thought so." The half-demon nodded and Rin pulled the fabric back over herself. "Seems like Sesshomaru's more like our dad than he thought," he said so quietly that she almost did not hear. Then he looked over at her. "I could tell that he'd claimed you. It means he marked you so no demon male could have you. In other words, he made you his mate _– _well, wife, I guess."

"Oh," was all she said.

She turned away to sweep aside a thatch of hair from her baby's face, but Inuyasha could see the small little smile she wore.

* * *

The next morning, Rin did not dress in the beautiful blue kimono Kagome had given her. Instead, she slipped into her simple working kimono, her favourite, and plaited her long hair as she had done each day while traveling with Jaken, A-Un, and Sesshomaru. Around herself, she wrapped a long piece of burnt red fabric that fell from her left shoulder down to the right side of her waist, where she securely tied it like a sash. That was where Rin slipped her baby, stopping once to make sure it was secure, and, fixing her mouth, determined, she set out.

"It looks like she's going out to slay a dragon," Inuyasha commented absently from his perch on the back porch. He was, begrudgingly, watching Soichiro while Kagome was washing clothes and the baby was happily cutting his first tooth on his father's beads.

Sango, who was sweeping the porch, straightened from her bent position and made a thoughtful noise at the back of her throat. "I thought she would be more dressed up."

"This is _her _battle, Sango." Kagome was smiling, her own eyes focused on her husband and child. "She'll fight it the way she needs to."

"Battle?" Inuyasha's eyebrows tweaked upwards, looking confused, and was only met with knowing smiles by the women. He turned away with an annoyed growl, jingling his necklace to make Soichiro laugh. "Well," he said after awhile, "whatever it is, she'll win."

As Rin walked steadily out into the forest she knew so well, her mind was on those days before running into the arms of Inuyasha and Kagome. She thought of Kira, of the man she had walked off with, and she thought of that painful, horrible night she had cut from her the only companions she had known. Suddenly, she realized something that had not crossed her mind. The gifts. Those beautiful, wonderful gifts, each a piece of artwork, that had called to Rin. They had been for _her._ It had been Sesshomaru's way of providing proper engagement gifts to his mate, as was the demon tradition.

She came upon him seated cross-legged on the ground near the river, a rock at his back supporting his weight as he leaned against it. His eyes flickered to her as she came out of the forest, looking perhaps nervous, though Rin could never be positive with his guarded feelings. Beside him was where she sat, their little girl snuggled against her breast, and she smiled at the absolute absurdity that had brought them this far.

They had both been acting like such fools. He, thinking that she did not want the child, and her for supposing the same. Rin knew now that if she had simply spoken to him instead of remaining quiet, these horrible months could have been avoided. She supposed, though, that this had given her the opportunity to grow. She was truly no child now _–_ she had become a woman as strong and confidant as Kagome.

Their stupidity caused Rin to chuckle lightly to herself. Sesshomaru stared blankly at her, as though asking, in his own way, what was so amusing. She kept to herself, however.

It was obvious in the way that he shifted his position that her silence aggravated him. There had been many times when his had bothered her, and so she simply looked at him as levelly as he had over the years, determined to play out this sort of game as long as she could.

Finally, frustrated with her not providing an answer, he stated: "You are married."

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru."

It was a simple statement, and yet his heart contorted in his chest as though he had been stabbed. The demon lord even looked down at himself, half expecting a sword or arrow to be protruding from his torso. There was none.

His face smooth, Sesshomaru stated quickly, "To that man."

"No, Lord Sesshomaru."

A purely surprised eyebrow shot up. For once, he did not try to hide it. "Why?"

She pulled out a small lacquer box from inside her sleeve, placing it gently upon the ground between them, revealing it to be the exact one that she had admired so many months ago. Then, in one sweeping motion that took him off guard far more than he had expected, Rin reached over and kissed him.

"Because I am Lord Sesshomaru's mate," she said decidedly.

The sides of his mouth quirked up sardonically beneath her palm, but Rin had always seen through the calm mocking into what lay underneath. He was pleased.

Sesshomaru's arm swung around her waist, his palm pressing into her back and his clawed fingers gripping at her kimono, and descended his head to her shoulder, their baby pressed safely between them. In her hair, he whispered softly, "Do as you wish."

* * *

A year had passed without interruption. Many thanks and goodbyes had been said to Inuyasha and his friends and the boy Akio had cried Rin's name long after she and Sesshomaru had returned into the forest. They would live, under Rin's quiet insistence, in the cave they had spent those months in, the place she had truly been happiest. On occasion, she was even inclined to call it 'home.' Jaken would snort at this comparison, wondering how a place that was dirty and dusty could be called that name, but he made no inclination that he wished to leave.

Sesshomaru did continue his travelling, leaving his family in the care of A-Un, Jaken and all the other humans that so cared for her, however he travelled much less and seemed to return as fast as he could. Though she did so miss the exotic lands she had seen and the promise of adventure, Rin much preferred to remain inside of their cave. Even when Sesshomaru suggested that she move into his estate in the West, he was aware as well as she that she was not suited for life inside of a grand house's walls. The days spent in Inuyasha's home had saved her life, true, but she had no desire to feel that trapped again. She had also made such close connections to Inuyasha's wife and the female demon-hunter that he could not force himself to further broach the subject of leaving. At times, when the boy Kohaku visited Rin after an extermination in the forest, Sesshomaru considered dragging her to the West, but still they remained.

Most expected that the great demon would not stand to spend his days in these conditions for long _–_ Inuyasha frequently made such comments. Much to their disbelief as well as his own, Sesshomaru was satisfied with life inside of a dark, damp cave. When he came across himself wondering if his wife should have more, Rin would look over at him from whatever she was doing and smile, and then he would find that his surroundings hardly mattered at all.

What perplexed him the most was Hana. Sesshomaru did not know what to think of his child.

It was an emotional, excitable little beast that burst into giggles at the most unexpected moments. He had raised Rin, but Hana was considerably younger than his wife had been when he found her and a great deal more talkative. She babbled her unintelligible baby talk at whatever caught her eye _–_ quite different than Rin, who had been mute, and even when she had regained her voice, spoke only when she needed. Though a trait Hana had definitely inherited from her mother was the excessive fascination with his hair. Hana often pounced on her father when he was not looking, running her small hands through his hair over and over, squealing in utter delight at the silky white tendrils that slid between her fingers.

And Rin frustratingly encouraged it.

Actually, she tended to encourage quite a bit of Hana's odd, rather human, behaviours. Hana did not call him "Father" as he wished, but "Papa," to which Rin had clapped her hands and cooed over the first time it was said.

Since discovering Hana's birth, Jaken slept permanently outside with A-Un. However, during the colder months of winter, Rin insisted that the poor frog demon be able to seek shelter within the cave before the falling snow could freeze him to death. He may be a demon, but he was a frog, and he could not survive the cold for long.

It was in winter that Sesshomaru found himself now, sitting idly by the flickering fire that so reminded him of the night before Rin had left him. His gaze wandered from the flames to outside of the cave entrance where his mate was playing in the snow, looking more the infant than their daughter.

"Papa!" Hana called gleefully. She was lifting her hands up to the sky, her fingers closing around the soft white flakes that fell from the grey clouds. Confusion was on her face when she looked and saw only her palms and not the snowflake she had captured. She had on no extra layers of clothes, having toddled out into the cold faster than her mother could catch her.

Sighing, he tolerantly got to his feet. Though he had never been one to make such a noise, that it was a human characteristic made only by the long-suffering, Sesshomaru realized that fatherhood had become the cause.

Even as she smiled at the little toddler's actions, Rin wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. One hand went lovingly to her stomach, absentmindedly caressing the area as she hummed to herself. There was a bump there, so small that Sesshomaru's palm could envelop it.

There would be no leaving with this child. He would see the baby grow inside of his mate; he would watch her grow and blossom over the next months until its birth, for which Hana could not wait. There had been tears in Rin's eyes the night she whispered this secret to him, but ones of happiness, not despair.

This single, small woman had given him one child, another promised in eight months, that were half-demon and viewed as abominations by his kind. He lived in a cave, surrounded by a chatty vessel and a two-headed dragon. Humans now pestered him wherever he went and he had made acquaintances with demon hunters.

It was far from what he had wanted but it did not bother him what his life had become. Rin still did not cease to confuse him. She made his mind and his heart constantly war with each other with each turn of her head and wave of her hands. And Hana was a walking, gibbering piece of him that tugged on his clothes at whatever chance she could grasp, also throwing him into chaos with her ember eyes and chocolate hair.

It was as though he had woken up and found his minutes and thoughts wrapped up entirely in a single, impractical human woman _–_ a woman who wore no shoes and tied her hair back like a peasant, with tanned skin and calloused hands, and who laughed whenever she pleased.

Though, Sesshomaru found that he rather preferred it no other way.

"You'll catch your death, you silly girl!" Jaken called to them, pointing his staff not at Rin, but this time at Hana. A-Un, who had proclaimed himself her guardian, snorted in agreement.

His mouth twitching in humour at the outburst, knowing full well how the frog demon cared no matter how he persisted otherwise, Sesshomaru stepped out into the snow.

Rin was catching the downy flakes on her fingertips, that ever-peaceful expression on her face despite the cold that reddened her ears. The demon lord sighed again and slipped his fur around her shoulders, upsetting the crystal drops caught in her hair. Rin turned to look back at him, offering one more smile before kneeling down to work Hana's little arms through a cotton robe. As he watched the two who had so interrupted his life, Sesshomaru paused to wonder at a warmth that had suddenly gripped his heart.

He knew then his journey had only begun.


End file.
